Lynne
by MissusSlimShady
Summary: Rin finally gets her big break, but living a life in stardom may not be all it's cut out to be. Rated M for possible NSFW in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One  
"There's nothing Ia. Nothing," I complained into my phone as I scrolled through the internet, scouring for some last minute tickets. I paused every few minutes only to pick up my coffee and take a drink. The lively sounds of the café echoed in the background.  
Ia's high pitched sigh sounded through the phone. "Should we even bother with it? I don't want you to just get scammed again."  
I furrowed my brow at the screen. "I was so excited to go. What kind of person scams teenagers using concert tickets?"  
"A fucked up asshole."  
I chuckled. "Yeah."  
Ia sighed again. After a seconds pause, she spoke. "Rin, I'll be the one to say it. I know we're both thinking it anyway."  
"Um, what?"  
"Maybe we should just... find new singers to like."  
I took a quick, frustrated breath. "Why? Just because the Vocals are changing their styles a little bit..."  
"A little bit? Every single one of their songs are about sex and drugs," she muttered.  
"You're just mad because we lost our tickets. Just let me find more-"  
"No, Rin! There's no point anymore."  
Click.  
I rolled my eyes, and set my phone down next to my laptop. I rested my elbow on the table, with my finger on my now-pounding temple. Every ticket I found was either sold, or seven hundred dollars.  
Ia and I had always been Vocaloid fans. Pretty much since the company started. We'd been to so many concerts, but we had never been scammed on the internet for their tickets. Ia seemed to be more upset about it than I was, despite the fact that I was the one who was two hundred dollars poorer.  
I took another sip of my coffee, and gave my eyes a break from the screen. I looked out at the perfect weather, watching people walk down the sidewalk with smiles on their faces and skips in their steps. I frowned. It was perfect concert weather.  
I had even dressed for it already. I had picked out a light, knee length white sundress with yellow flowers stitched into them. I wore my favorite white headband with a bow on it, nestled into my well- groomed blonde hair. It had taken me an hour just to find my white bobby pins and place them in the perfect spots in my bangs. Even my eyeliner was perfect. I felt hot as fuck.  
But it didn't matter anymore. I had to just go home and watch the concert on cable, crying into a huge bowl of popcorn.  
I rested my hand on the top of my laptop, preparing to close it. After a moment's hesitation, I returned it to the keyboard. It couldn't hurt to look for a couple more minutes.  
As I scrolled through Google, I saw a person appear out of the corner of my eye.  
"Can I sit here?" A man asked.  
"Yeah, sure," I replied mindlessly.  
He sat down, coffee in hand, and relaxed into his chair. I paid little attention to him.  
"I've never been to this place before," he said. "Their coffee is great."  
"Yeah," I replied, not paying much attention. "It's alright."  
"You don't see a lot of locally-owned cafés anymore."  
"Yeah."  
He sighed.  
"God dammit," I whispered under my breath as I clicked on another dead link.  
"Everything alright?" The boy asked.  
I took a deep breath, rubbing my head. "No," I answered. "I got scammed out of concert tickets and I can't find replacements. And the concert starts in, like, four hours."  
"Oh, you mean the Vocaloid concert?"  
"Yeah."  
He nodded. "I have a couple of extra tickets if you want them."  
My fingers halted on my head , a sudden feeling of unease in me. I looked up at him for the first time during the conversation. He was wearing a black button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, and a low-lying fedora on his head. He was looking to my left, out the windows. His face was hidden behind his chin-length blonde hair.  
"You weren't gonna go alone, were you?" He continued.  
I narrowed my eyes. "Uh, no," I replied, unsure of how much information I should give this mysterious stranger. "Just...just me and a friend."  
He nodded, reaching for his pocket. My jaw dropped as he pulled out two concert tickets, and placed them on the table. He still didn't look at me.  
A couple quiet seconds passed. "Um," I stuttered. "I-I can't pay you for those."  
He let out a laugh. "Don't worry about it."  
I cocked my head to the side, not knowing how to handle this situation. "Um, what did you say your name was?"  
The boy turned his head to look at me, and my heart dropped.  
"I didn't," Len Kagamine said with a sly smile. I gaped at him, like an idiot, and he held his pointer finger to his lips, shushing me. I nodded, understanding, but unable to speak.  
"What about you?" He asked, his fedora hanging just over his cunning blue eyes. "What did you say your name was?"  
I finally found my words. "I didn't, either." I mentally scolded myself for my attitude.  
He chuckled. "Well you know who I am, it looks like."  
I felt a blush coming to my cheeks. I looked down at my keyboard, trying to compose myself. "I'm Rin."  
He leaned back in his chair, and motioned to the tickets. "Well, Rin, these tickets don't have much use to me," his cocky smile returned. "Since I'm... ya' know, in the concert. So you can have 'em."  
For a second, I was put off by his narcissism, but decided to ignore it. "Th- thanks. I-"  
"Oh and there's backstage passes too," he interrupted.  
"Uh, cool. Are you s-"  
He leaned forward, cutting me off again. "Maybe, after the show, we could... Get together, or something," he said softly.  
My jaw dropped again. "Excuse me?" I asked, my voice rising.  
He raised his eyebrows. "You heard me."  
Without waiting for me to reply, he checked his watch, and stood. "I've got to run. Rehearsal." He nodded towards the tickets. "See you there." He flashed me another smile and turned around, keeping his head low. He strode confidently out of the café.  
I eyed the tickets, not sure what to make of this.  
I shook my head, and grabbed them off the table. I half expected them to be fake, considering how rude he had been to me, but they looked legit. And, like he promised, there was a backstage pass on each one.  
I had always known that celebrities could be jerks, but I had always hoped- prayed, even- that the Vocaloids would be the kind people I had imagined them. A long time ago, when Miku was the only one, I went to one of her concerts, and she was so nice to all of us. She signed my t-shirt, gave me a hug, took a picture with me...  
 _Maybe it was just Len that was rude,_ I thought.  
Which was still a shame, because his music had always been my favorite.  
I closed my laptop and put it in my bag with the tickets. I slung the bag over my shoulder, grabbed my coffee, and took my phone out of my pocket. I dialed Ia's number.  
"What," her depressed voice asked through the phone.  
I debated whether to tell her that Len had been such a dick to me, but, knowing that he was her favorite too, I decided against it.  
"You are never going to guess what just happened to me."


	2. Chapter 2

_Hey guys! Sorry it took me so long to upload the next chapter. From Sunday night to Wednesday afternoon every week, I can't upload. I can still write it though, so chapter 3 is well on it's way!_ _So this chapter is significantly longer than chapter one, though I'm not entirely sure why. A lot happens, I guess. Also, whenever I use songs in this story, I'll alway link the video where I found it at the end in the order that it appears in the chapter. At least, I'll try to remember to. I didn't not make any of the songs I use in here, and I give full credit to whoever DID make them, because they're some really good songs. But anyway, that's enough talking for now. Enjoy! :)_

Ia blasted "Spice" in the car as she drove the two of us toward the amphitheater. She slammed her hands on the steering wheel to the beat, a permanent smile across her face.  
"I LOVE THIS SONG!" She shouted at me. I could barely hear her.  
"DO YOU THINK YOU COULD TURN IT DOWN A LITTLE BIT AT LEAST?" I yelled back, smiling despite her playing my least favorite song.  
She turned it down just enough for us to not be yelling at each other. "Is that better?"  
I laughed, the encounter with Len completely pushed out of my mind. "Now could you change it to a song with a little more taste?"  
She gasped at me. "This song is the tastiest thing I've ever heard," she replied with a smirk.  
"Ew."  
Ia laughed again. "I'd like a taste of some of that."  
"STOP."  
"But I have so many more taste jokes," she brushed her straightened, white hair behind her shoulder. "You really don't like this song?"  
"Ugh," I grunted. "New Vocaloid songs."  
"Oh, whatever," she said. "I like it."  
"I wish they would just write a song or two that's... "School appropriate."  
She snickered. "You're starting to sound like all those anti-Vocals on Twitter."  
"Do you think we'll see any at the concert?"  
Ia shrugged her shoulders. "Probably. But they don't matter."  
I nodded, biting the inside of my cheek "After the concert I'm just gonna walk to Ozean."  
"You working night shifts?" Ia asked, turning onto the off ramp of the highway.  
"Tonight I am."  
"I could give you a ride," she offered. "It's gonna be hella late, and it's quite a walk."  
I waved her off. "Nah. I like walking. Plus," I put my hands on my stomach. "I could use some exercise."  
"Hah," she laughed. "As if."  
I looked down at my dress. "I'm not really dressed for waitressing, though."  
"But you're looking fly as fuck," she said, eyeing me.  
"Pfft. I'm not dressed for a concert either. Unlike some people," I countered. Ia wore a tight black tank top with skinny jeans and converse. Her white hair looked like it was sparkling in contrast to her dark outfit.  
"Eh," was her only reply as the last few notes of "Spice" played on the radio.  
The car turned into the parking lot of The Amp. An hour early, and the parking lot was already almost full.  
Ia let out a laugh. "And they say no one goes to Vocal concerts anymore."  
After half an hour of looking for a parking spot, we found one that was a far walk away from the entrance.  
I closed the rusted door of Ia's truck. "Are you ever gonna get this thing fixed?"  
"Excuse you, but this is not a 'thing.'" She rubbed the bed of the truck lovingly. "It's my baby."  
I shook my head, smiling. "Let's just start walking."

The building was shaped like a giant dome. A line was beginning to form in the front doors, but we got through it in only a few minutes. The entire time, Ia asked about what happened at the coffee shop. "How did you not recognize him?" "Was he even hotter up close?" "Did you ask for the tickets or did he just give them to you?"  
The only question that struck me was while we on our way to the stage.  
"Was he nice?"  
I stopped, pulled my backstage pass out of my bag, and hung it around my neck. "Um..." I tried to find my words as Ia hung hers also. I figured I might as well tell her the truth. I looked down at my pass sheepishly. "He was a jerk."  
Ia slouched over. "Really?"  
I nodded, sadly looking back up at her.  
She sighed. "Well..." She paused, then laughed softly. "At least he still makes good music."  
I grinned. "Whatever you say."  
The Amp was shaped like any basic concert all; with the stage on the left and the seats arranged in a tiered semicircle around it. The room was alive with the chatter of excited Vocal fans.  
We found our seats; first row, closest to the stage. They were perfect in every way. The fabric itself seemed to sparkle. I didn't expect them to be bad seats, but still... It seemed almost like a dream. I had never gotten the chance to sit so close to the stage before. Ia's eyes were filled with pure joy as we sat in our cushioned thrones.  
We were still pretty early, so I left Ia to watch our seats while I went to get snacks. The lines were already outrageously long, but it was better than sitting in front of an empty stage doing nothing for half an hour.  
I had been standing in line scrolling through my Twitter feed on my phone for almost ten minutes when I overheard the conversation of two girls behind me. They chatted excitedly about the concert. They looked like they were just a year or two younger than me, around 15 years old. One of the girls had her thick strawberry blonde hair tied into a bun on her head, and a face caked with makeup. She wore light blue jean shorts with rips in them, and a cream-colored sleeveless t-shirt. A series of long, silver necklaces fell from her neck. She stood tall, her green eyes wide with excitement.  
Her friend's outfit was less revealing than the hers; gray skinny jeans with lightly colored, loose fitting tank top, and various bracelets around both her wrists. She was shorter, and had darker hair that flowed down her back in waves. Her bangs covered the right side of her face, under which she had a distinct birthmark on her upper cheek. It was obvious she was trying to hide it. Bracelet's smile was less enthusiastic than Necklaces'.  
"You guys excited?" I turned to ask them when their conversation died down.  
Necklaces' wide smile returned. "Hell yeah! We've been waiting for this concert for weeks."  
I giggled. "Who's your guys' favorites?"  
"Well," Necklaces said, looking down at the floor intently. "Mine is probably Gumi. And Amy's-" She motioned to Bracelets- "Is Luka."  
Bracelets' - Amy's - head perked up. "Actually," she said softly. "I like Len."  
I grinned. "Me too," I said, not entirely sure if that was true anymore. Behind me, the cashier yelled for the next person. I waved the two girls off, and began to turn my back to them, but stopped.  
"You know," I started, looking back at Amy. "I really like that mark on your cheek."  
Amy's expression turned to one of confusion, as she ran her fingertips softly over the mark. "R-Really?" She stammered.  
"Yeah," I answered sweetly. "I think it's really cute."  
She stared at me for a second, before she let out a timid "Thanks," with a slight smile pulling up the corners of her mouth.  
I smiled warmly at her. "No problem."  
I turned to order a bottle of water for Ia and I to share, along with both our choices of candy.  
With the food in hand, I strode back to our seats. The Amp was almost twice as crowded as when I left to buy our food, and I said my fair share of "excuse me"'s while weaving my way through the growing crowd.  
Finally I arrived back at our seats, setting the water bottle between us, and handing Ia her candy.  
"I asked for Skittles," she stated as I handed her M&M's.  
"Tough shit," I smirked at her. "You can go stand in that line if you want them."  
She smiled. "What'd you get?"  
I plopped down in my chair, opening my candy. "Reece's."  
Her eyes widened. "Gimmie some."  
I shook my head, plopping a nearly melted peanut butter cup in my mouth. "No," I muttered through the rich chocolate.  
Ia laughed. "Don't talk with your mouth open. I don't even want any anymore."  
"Good," I said sloppily.  
She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, and amused grin on her face. "Ew."  
We sat and talked while the chatter around us grew louder and louder as more and more people crowded into The Amp.  
At five minutes until showtime, the people around us were already standing and cheering. Cheering at nothing but a dark stage. Ia and I stood with them.  
The stage was right in front of me, and if I had been a little taller, I could have climbed onto it. Our seats were right in the zone where the Vocals could touch us and see us clearly. My excitement began to peak. I had forgotten about the anticipation before concerts; I hadn't been to one in such a long time.

Finally the lights over the seats switched off, and the crowd erupted into a fit of excited cheers. Ia included. I laughed at her, yelling as well..  
A stage light flicked on, revealing Luka in her signature outfit, with a smile plastered on her face.  
"How you guys doin' tonight?" She yelled into her microphone. She laughed as we all went in a frenzy.  
Ia and I were screaming by now, as was everyone around us. Music started up, much louder than I was used too, and Luka rolled into one of her newest songs. My excitement died down a bit, as I only listened to her, and everyone else's, old music. I cheered along, but wasn't able to sing along like Ia. I brushed it off though. It was only one song that I didn't know.  
But then she played a other.  
And another.  
And another.  
I was fuming by the time she got off the stage. All the songs she sang were the shitty new ones. My only thought at this point was that maybe, just maybe, Miku would sing some of her old songs.  
But she didn't.  
She came on stage next, sang the same-sounding songs as Luka, and then left. And then Gumi came, and did the same thing. And then Katio. One by one, they came out, went back. And lastly, Len came on stage. I couldn't even pretend to be excited anymore.  
Ia eyed me, and frowned. "What's wrong?" She asked.  
I didn't want to ruin her night by saying how shitty the concert was. Instead, I explained: "I have a little bit of a headache."  
"You want the keys to the truck?" She yelled out over Len's singing. "You can lie down if you wanna."  
I shook my head. "No, it's okay." Lying in a car for the next hour would be worse than listening to these songs, even if they were all pretty much the same song.  
As the music of "Spice" came on Len walked closer the edge of the stage, turning all the girls around me into hormonal monsters. They screamed and cried and held their hands out to him like he was some kind of god.  
If only they knew how "nice" he was. I wondered if they would still act the same if they did. Ia sure was.  
Len's eyes scanned the crowd. He was wearing the same outfit from the coffee shop, but he had ditched the fedora. He even showed off the same wolf-like grin as before.  
He continued looking through everyone in the front row, and I came to the grim realization that he might have been looking for me.

And I was right. His eyes moved right along the crowd, stopping at me. His smile grew wider when he saw me. I stared back, my face blank.

He winked, and turned around.

Ia turned to me, shaking from excitement. "DID HE JUST WINK AT YOU?" she screamed in my ear. I don't think she even knew she was yelling.

"Yeah," I grunted, too low for her to hear.

She turned back to the stage, dancing, jumping, and screaming.

By the time the concert was over, I was pissed. I had never been so glad to hear the words "Goodnight everybody!" from a famous person.

Ia and I sat around for ten minutes, waiting for most of the crowd to leave.

I sat with my arms crossed over my chest, staring down at the floor. Ia leaned closer to me.

"You don't have a headache, do you?" It was more of a statement, not a question.

I bit the inside of my cheek, still staring at the ground. "No, I don't."

"Why didn't you like it? _Len Kagamine_ fucking _winked_ at you."

I shook my head. "He's a dick." I met Ia's gaze. "And all the songs that they _all_ performed tonight were garbage."

I saw a few heads turn my way, but ignored them.

"I liked it," she responded, defensive.

I began to raise my voice. "The only decent song they played all night was when Len sang Hibikase." I looked back down at the ground, my face red from a mixture of anger, annoyance, and impatience. "And even that song is only good because it doesn't suck as much as the others." I ranted on and on. "For God's sake, Miku didn't even sing Hirari! That's my favorite fucking song."

Ia shushed me. More and angry fans were beginning to turn their heads at me. "Keep it down," she nearly whispered. "We're gonna get jumped in the parking lot if you keep talking like that."

I rolled my eyes.

Ia sighed. "Well," she said, after a moment of silence. "Can we just go backstage real quick and get some autographs?"

I didn't reply. I just stared at the spilled snacks and drinks on the floor.

"It'll just take a second. And you don't have to say anything," she pleaded. "Please."

I knew how excited Ia was to go backstage and meet everyone, and even though I had a bad feeling about it, I sighed, and stood, grabbing my trash.

"Sure," I muttered, feeling a little better as Ia's eyes lit up like green Christmas lights. "Let's get this over with."

She jumped up, and wrapped her arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug. "Thank you thank you thank you!" she repeated.

I smiled, gently pushing her off me. "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

I dumped the trash into the overflowing trash can as we exited The Amp. The lobby was almost empty. Ia and I swung a left toward a set of double doors with a tall, buff bodyguard standing in front of it. We walked toward the doors, and held up our passes to him as we entered. He nodded, and I released my pass, letting it fall back around my neck.

The hallway behind the doors was a bare and empty one, except for an heavy door with a bright red EXIT sign hanging over it. A group of friends walked toward us. They all held posters in front of them, and smiles on their faces. As they walked past, I saw that the posters were signed. I frowned. I wished that I could be as happy and excited as they were.

At the end of the hall was a waist-high metal gate. I assumed that was as far as we could walk back stage. There were only two people standing at it, a boy and a girl, and they were both getting signatures from Luka and Len, who were standing on the other side. The fans turned around, smiles stretched from ear to ear, and pushed past Ia and I.

Ia seemed to be in a trance as we stepped up to the gate. No one else had followed us in, and we were likely the last two.

Len had turned his back on us, but Luka smiled at us as we walked up.

"Sup," she greeted.

I tried to put an happy expression on, but it came out looking like I had a bad taste in my mouth. Ia perked up, pulling a small poster out of her bag. I knew exactly which one it was, too. It was about the size of a regular piece of paper, and featured all seven of the Vocals on it; Miku, Luka, Len, Gumi, Meiko, Kaito, and Gakupo. It usually hung over her computer in her room, but she must have taken it down just for the concert.

"Can I get your autograph?" She asked, eyes wide.

Luka shrugged her shoulders. "What else would you come back here for?" She snatched the poster out of Ia's hands, and unraveled it onto the wall. She already had a pen in her hand, and she began to sign it.

Behind her, there was a little sitting area with three light brown, fluffy-looking couches, and a coffee table in the middle. The rest of the vocals were sitting on the couches, laughing and talking.

They all crowded around Gumi, who was holding her phone out, watching something. They all watched it with her, and then started laughing simultaneously. In the corner opposite the gate, a man with black hair stood, talking on the phone. He used his free hand to plug his ears from the noise the Vocals were making.

"Luka!" Len yelled over, not looking up from the phone. "You gotta come see this."

She scowled, and turned her head to him, pen in hand, poster still pinned up against the wall with her arm. "Hold on! I'm signing shit."

 _Her poster isn't shit,_ I thought, annoyed.

Luka finished signing it, capped the pen and handed the poster back to Ia.

"Um," Ia started, her face red. "Could I, uh, get Miku's autograph too?"

Luka sighed, turned around. "Miku! Get over here."

With every action that they made, I became angrier and angrier.

Miku stood up from the couch, her teal hair nearly dragging on the floor as she walked over. She put her hands on her hips next to Luka, clearly bugged that the pink-haired girl took her away from the fun. "What?" she asked.

Luka motioned to Ia.

"Uh…" Ia said. Miku turned her head. "Can I get your autograph?"

Miku's shoulders slouched. "Yeah, sure whatever." She said the words with no pause between them. She grabbed the pen from Luka and the poster from Ia, and put it against the wall.

After handing her the pen, Luka looked at me. "You want anything?" She asked.

I stared at her for a second, and took a deep breath. "No," I answered, my voice monotonous.

She looked me up and down, a sour look on her face, and then turned away, walking back to the couch. Despite her rudeness, I stared at her hair admiringly. I had always wanted pink hair, but my parents would have killed me if I came home with any hair that wasn't my signature blonde.

As I was looking in her direction, I made eye contact with Len. He smirked at me, and I quickly looked away.

 _Fuck,_ I thought. _He saw me._

I stared at Miku's hand as she scribbled something on Luka's poster, and saw Len stand up from the couch and walk toward us. I took another deep breath.

He put his hands on the metal gate, leaning toward me. "Hey, you," he said.

Miku smirked as she wrote. I looked down at the ground. "Hi," I replied.

"You don't have to pretend that you're not happy to see me," he said, looking me straight in the eye. I met his gaze, and my expression turned bitter. Now I really _did_ have a bad taste in my mouth.

"You probably don't even remember my name," I commented. Ia's mouth dropped.

 _Oh, how dare I be rude to a famous person,_ I thought.

Len though for a second. "Lynn, right?"

I rolled my eyes. "It's Rin."

He waved a hand dismissively. "Whatever."

 _If one more Vocal says "whatever" to me, or Ia, I'm going to punch them._ I thought.

Len leaned in closer. He reeked of cologne. I had to force myself not to gag. "Now, about what we were talking about earlier…"

"No," I interrupted.

He widened his eyes at me. "Come on," he leaned in even closer. He was nearly whispering now. "You really don't wanna have a one night stand with _Len Kagamine_?" His hair could almost brush against my forehead.

I took a step back, trying to come to terms with the fact that my favorite musical artist had turned into a playboy. "No," I repeated with a firm voice. I thought for a second, then added: "I actually have enough self-respect to not throw myself at any guy just because he's famous."

His confident expression disappeared, leaving a stunned one.

Miku laughed, pointing her pen at him. "Hah, you just got rejected by a _fan._ " She capped the pen, and handed the poster to Ia. "Guys!" She yelled, turning to the others. "Len just got roasted by a _fan."_

He leaned away from me, and shrugged his shoulders. "She doesn't know what she's missing," he defended, turning to the couch full of Vocals. They howled with laughter.

My face felt red from anger. Miku turned her back as well, leaving Ia and I with no choice but to go back to the lobby. I spun around, and Ia followed close behind.

"You okay?" She asked, clutching her poster.

"I'll be fine," I growled. I stopped at the exit door. "I'm just gonna go to the Ozean. I'll talk to you later." I put a hand on the handle.

"You sure?" She looked concerned. "I really could drive you. It's no big deal."

I turned my back on her, pushing the door open. "I like walking."

It was late, probably almost midnight. I regretted not bringing a jacket with me as the brisk air brushed against my bare arms and legs. The alley I had stepped into was dark, and to my right I could see a sidewalk with a lit streetlamp next to it. Under the streetlamp stood a bench. I crossed my arms, shivering in the cold, and walked over to it. The metal was freezing on my legs, but I didn't mind too much. I just needed somewhere to sit. And think.

I couldn't believe that my idols that I had looked up too since I was twelve were a bunch of jerks. Especially Miku. She was so nice to me when I had met her before, but I guess fame changes people.

All of my anger from the entire night washed away, and I felt this sudden urge to cry. It was depressing to think about my favorite music artists like that.

I pulled my phone out of my shoulder bag, looking up and down the sidewalk. It ran behind The Amp, so I didn't expect anyone to be there. The alley was clear as well.

Whenever I got angry, or frustrated, my coping mechanism was to sing my favorite songs. I had a few karaoke versions on my phone, just in case. I pulled my headphones out of my bag with my phone, untangled them, and plugged them in.

I scrolled through my karaoke playlist while I put my headphones in, and decided on Hirari, Hirari.

I looked up and down the sidewalk again, making sure no one was near me. It was always embarrassing when I was doing stuff like this, especially because I always figured I was a pretty bad singer.

I pressed play, and closed my eyes, losing myself in the gentle piano of the intro.

I thought about everything that had happened today, and how much it would change my perspective on the music industry, and about how glad I was that I had stopped trying to get too involved in it. I used to do my share of songwriting, and I loved it, but I gave up a couple months ago. It was a fun hobby, but it never really got me anywhere. I thought about the songs I wrote. I had thought they were good, but I figured no one else would, so I kept them a secret… for the most part. I thought about how I used to want to make music like the Vocals, and now I couldn't even look at them.

I thought about why I was so sad and disappointed to find out about what they had turned into. I thought about poor Ia and how she probably didn't even know how rude they were to her because she was just starstruck, and I thought about how I'll never be able to hear a new, good song written by the Vocals ever again. The last thought made my eyes water a bit.

" _Kisetsu kurikaesu tabi_

 _Hotsureteku kizuna wo_

 _Tsuyoku, tsuyoku daki shimete_

 _Nakusanu you…"_

After the first few lines, I lost myself completely in the song. It was like all the problems of today just disappeared, and I was in my own, tranquil, happy place. That was the beauty of music for me. I loved when it could take me away from the world.

Even if I would never hear Miku sing it again. It didn't matter as long as I could hear it somewhere.

" _Itai hodoni sore wa yakitsuite_

 _Hirari Hirari Hirari…"_

It almost felt like I had a stolen jewel in my phone. It felt as if I had the last of the proof that the Vocals _can_ make good songs. Or at least, _could._ It was like the song was mine, and mine alone, and I was the keeper of it, the protector of it. I felt empowered by it. It's distraction was better than any drug I could use.

" _Sotto ame noyouni furu koe ga_

 _Hirari ga Hirari rari..._ "

The piano faded out, and the song ended, and the weight of the day fell on my shoulders all over again. I sighed, and opened my eyes again.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw someone was sitting on the bench next to me.

I ripped the earbuds out of my ears, my face turning bright red in a matter of milliseconds. It was a man in a suit, who looked to be about in his mid thirties, and had his black hair slicked back with enough gel to make it look like plastic. He had some well kept stubble running up his jawline, and a pair of earthly brown eyes. He was leaned back on the bench, with one arm hooked over the edge behind him. In his hand was a white card. After some thought, I recognized him as the man that was standing in the corner backstage on his phone.

"Well," I said, breaking the awkward silence. "This is really embarrassing."

He laughed. "I saw the Vocals harassing you and your friend, so I followed you out here to apologize."

"Um…" My face was still bright red. "Sorry…"

He let out a laugh, and shook his head. "For what?"

"Uh-"

He held out a hand, and smiled kindly at me. "I'm Erik. I'm the manager of the Vocals."

My mouth fell open. I slowly shook his hand, amazed at how eventful this one day had been.

"... And, you are?"

I shook my head, trying to concentrate on the conversation. Weird, I had been more fazed by the Vocals' manager than the Vocals themselves. "I'm R-Rin," I stuttered. "Rin Webs."

Erik nodded. He looked at the car in his hand, and held it out to me. "Here."

I took it, and looked it over. It was a business card with an address on the bottom.

"You can definitely sing songs," he began. "But can you write them?"

I was not prepared to be interviewed. "A-um, I have a couple of songs that I've written, but… but it's nothing serious."

"Well, tomorrow, I'll be at the recording studio-" He tapped the address on the bottom of the card. "From noon 'till about five-ish. You should drop by and sing one of your 'non serious' songs."

"Um… I don't know…"

"We've been looking for someone new lately, but we haven't had any luck." He looked down at the ground. "We've been having issues lately, and the others just aren't taking them seriously."

I let out a laugh, gazing down at the card. "Issues? I could tell…" I rubbed the address with my thumb. "Sorry," I apologized. "I didn't mean it like that."

He shook his head. "It's fine. Just come by tomorrow." He stood. "I'll tell the people at the front office to be expecting you." He smiled again. "Just bring some kind of ID with you."

"I-I have a driver's licence… "

"That'll work." Erik sighed. "I'll see you at the studio."

I nodded, at a loss for words.

He nodded back, and walked back down the alley. He entered the same door that I came out of.

I stared at the card for a long time.

 _Yes, I am going to put the Romanji lyrics in whenever they're singing the song, unless the meaning of them is specifically important. I'll always try to link videos with the English subtitles, and if I can't find a video with English subtitles, then I'll try to find them and post them somewhere for you guys._

 _So, here's the first one!_ _watch?v=PR-tgaqfVss_

 _\- This is Rin's version, but it doesn't have English Subtitles. If you want know the subs, watch Miku's version here watch?v=3f4zJQ-G4QE_

 _Geez, I feel like I had a lot more to talk about than that, but I can't remember any of it. If it's really that important, I'll put it in the note for the next chapter._

 _Thank you guys for reading!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Hey guys! So, I've set a goal to put out at least one chapter a week, and likely it's going to be every Wednesday night. I may post between, but probably not from Sunday- Tuesday._

 _Anyway, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, and I hope you guys have just as much fun reading it._

 _Enjoy! :)_

I had torn my entire room apart looking for my binder of songs. It was almost four in the morning, and in less than twelve hours I was going to have to sing in a recording booth in front of one of the world's' most successful men.  
And I couldn't find my damn binder anywhere.  
I had gotten home around two-thirty from work. The bars usually didn't close till late, and I took the night shifts on weekends. I didn't tell any of my coworkers about Erik or the Vocals, though they were all keen on asking me about the concert. I was the youngest worker there, and the only one that was still underaged. Most of the people who worked there were too old for me to really have any similarities with, but I tried to be friendly to them. I don't think they ever wanted to hang out with the little kid, either. Hell, I really shouldn't even be working there. But I was just a waitress, not a bartender, so being only seventeen wasn't a huge deal. Especially because my Mom and the owner were good friends.  
On the other hand, it sucked. The other workers always felt like they could just push me around because I was young and gullible. So I always ended working nights and holidays when no one else wanted to work.  
I usually got home around midnight, sometimes a bit after. My parents were long asleep by the time I got home every night. Including tonight.  
I considered waking them up to ask if they knew where my binder was, but I decided against it. They worked all day, too. They needed their sleep.  
My room was small to begin with, but I had turned my closet, my dresser, and everywhere else I stored things inside out to find my binder. And it was nowhere to be seen. The floor was completely covered with crap.  
"Fuck," I muttered to myself, quietly. My parents were in the next room, and apartment walls were paper thin.  
My room was nothing special, even when it was clean. I just had a tiny twin bed with my dresser at it's foot, and a desk across the room. My few clothes hung in my small closet next to it. It was small, but I knew where everything was. At least, I _thought_ I knew.

I figured that my binder was going to be in my bottom desk drawer, where I kept all my stuff I was embarrassed about. Like my journals, or my old Vocal posters. But it wasn't there.  
It hadn't been all that long since I had seen the songs I'd wrote, but the binder had a CD with every song that had the music on it. My Dad had helped me record all the music, back when my dream was to become like the Vocals.  
Now, I wasn't just becoming like them. I was becoming one of them.  
I froze at the thought. I sat in the middle of my room on my knees with piles of my belongings around me. I put my head in my hands in despair. What was I going to do now?  
I jumped up when I heard the handle to my door turn, and my Mom's head peeked through the door. She opened the door all the way, and widened her eyes.  
I waved. "Hey Mom."  
She was in her pajamas with her hair falling in sloppy curls around her tired face. "Rin," she started, her voice calm. "What in the hell are you doing tearing your room apart at four in the morning?"  
I took a deep breath. "It's a long story."  
Mom looked disdainfully at the mess, and sighed. She took a step in, trying her best not crush anything, and made her way across my room. She sat on my bed, and folded her hands in her lap. "Well, I've got time."  
I hadn't even thought about telling my parents about what happened, and I picked my words carefully. "Um... I don't really know where to start."  
She shrugged.  
"Well... Ia and I got scammed out of our tickets-" she nodded. She already knew about that, and she had not been happy. Money wasn't exactly happy to come by in our family. "-so I was at the café on my laptop looking for more. And then...then this guy came up to me and sat at my table with me. Turns out he was the actual _Len Kagamine_."  
Mom laughed. "Really?"  
I nodded. "Really. And he just gave me two tickets, and with two backstage passes."  
She narrowed her eyes at me. "He just...gave them to you?"  
"Uh. Huh. Trust me, I was just as surprised as you are. It was so random." I paused for a second, looking at the ground. "Anyways, long story short, Ia and I went to the concert, and went backstage afterwards. Then, I was sitting outside singing a song on my phone, and their manager came out, saying he wanted me to come to the recording studio tomorrow-" I looked at the clock. "-er, today, and sing one of my songs for him."  
Mom stared at me in disbelief. "No way."  
I pulled his card out of my pocket, handing it to her. She looked it over, her eyes moving quickly back and forth along the lines. Her head snapped back up to me. She smiled, and jumped up. "Oh my god, Rin!"  
I jumped up with her. "I know!" I yelled, suddenly excited. "I can't believe it!"  
Mom stared at the card, breathing heavily. She looked back at me, tears of happiness forming in her eyes, and opened her arms. I flung myself into them, and wrapped her up in a bear hug.  
"I'm so happy for you," she whispered as she petted my hair softly. "But that doesn't explain why your room looks like a tornado went through it."  
I giggled. "I was trying to find my song binder."  
Mom pulled back from the hug. "Oh," she said matter-of-factly. "That's all you had to say. Your Dad and I stole it because we thought you were gonna throw it away."  
I shook my head, relieved. "I wouldn't throw it away."  
Mom's eyes sparkled. "I'll go get it," she said, starting for the door. "But I really do gotta get back to bed."  
"Yeah, go ahead Mom. I just need to see what song I'm gonna do."  
She looked at me for a second, her face proud. It warmed my heart. "Okay," she responded, disappearing out the door.  
A few seconds later, she reappeared with my familiar white binder in her arms. "Here," she said, handing it to me. I accepted it gratefully. "Night," she waved. "I love you, my little superstar."  
I blushed. "Mooooom." I hugged the binder the my chest. "I love you too."  
She blew me a kiss, and shut the door.

I stood outside the recording studio trembling. My binder was clutched to my chest, and I was still unsure of my song choice. I didn't really have much of a choice at this point, however, as it was the only song that I had practiced since Mom gave my binder back. I had played the disc on my laptop, and luckily it sounded just as good as I remembered, but I was still hesitant.

It must have looked pretty strange to see someone standing outside of a building, not moving for about forty-five minutes. People walked past me on the sidewalk, casting me sidewards glances and confused looks, but I ignored all of them. I stared at the front of the building until every feature of it was burned into my head forever. The roof slanted up to my left, and was made of shiny metal that glimmered in the bright sunlight. The entire front wall was windows, so I could clearly see inside. Inside, just to the right of the front doors was a small sitting room with some black leather couches and some side tables with magazines on them. Decorative plants sat in each corner of the room. On the other side of the room was a lady standing behind a desk, typing something on a computer. There was a metal door past her. I tried not to look at it, as it made my heart jump every time.

I could see my reflection in the glass; a scrawny, small girl with an awkward white bow in her messy hair, wearing yet another of her white sundresses with yellow polka dots on it. Her legs were too skinny, her black and white converse didn't match her outfit, and she looked like a kindergartner on their first day of the school the way she clutched her binder for dear life.

I took yet another deep breath, trying to convince myself to go inside like I had been for the past hour. No matter what I thought, the butterflies in my stomach would not stop, and I was just as close to turning around and going home as I was to sucking it up and going inside.

But I just _couldn't do it._

I was scared. I was scared of the fact that what I decided to do at this moment was going to completely change the rest of my life. I could either go back to my boring, two-bedroom apartment with my parents, or I could go on possibly the greatest adventure of my life.

But would it even be great to become a Vocal?

Erik probably didn't even tell the lady up front to expect me. What if I go in there and she looks at me like I'm crazy? And even if I did make it through that metal door... what if I go in there and Erik hates my song? What if he turns me away? What then?

I guess I would just go back to my current lifestyle anyway. But if I just turn around now, I'll never know.

My body began to work against my brain, and I finally took the steps up to the glass door. I extended a shaky hand to open the door, and pulled it open.

The lady behind the counter looked up at me as I entered. "Hello," she greeted, cocking her head to the side. "Rin, isn't it?"

I froze, widening my eyes. "Uh, yeah…"

"Can I see some ID?"

I shakily pulled my wallet out of my bag, and showed it to her.

She nodded, and pressed a button behind her desk. A loud _click_ sounded from the metal door. I flinched at the sound of it.

She looked at me, slightly amused. "Nervous?"

I laughed uneasily. "Is it really that easy to tell?"

She leaned forward, her arms resting on the desk. "If it helps, I remember the day that Miku came through those doors, and she looked _just_ like you do now," she comforted me.

I thought for a second. "Wow… that really does help."

She smiled, gesturing toward the door. "I'm sure you'll do great."

I nodded hesitantly, and opened the door. There was a hallway in front of me, and I was immediately reminded of being backstage last night. I put one foot in front of the other, and came into a room at the end.

It was the control room. I could see the recording room through a window over the control board, filled with more switches and buttons then I could count. An unlit sign that read "RECORDING" in capital letters hung over a door next the to panel, leading to the recording room. There were three chairs in front of the control board, and one of them was occupied by Erik. He was scrolling through something on his phone when I walked in. He jumped up when he saw me.

"Rin! I was beginning to think you weren't gonna come," he said, pocketing his phone.

I shrugged. "Me too." I was quaking in my shoes.

He laughed. "Well, the others will be here soon-"

My gaze snapped up to him. "The others?"

"Yeah," he confirmed, taking a deep breath."They have some recording to do too-"

The words had barely left his mouth when the metal door unlocked again, and opened to a frenzy of voices and laughs. My heart skipped a beat, and I quickly backed into the corner of the room. I was right in front if the door entering the recording room.

They all flooded in like ants, turning the spacious room into a crowded one. Miku was at the front next to Len and Luka, and the rest were following behind them. They laughed a lot, much like they had been the night before.

Len was the first one to catch sight of me. He stopped at the entrance to the room, and several of the others ran into him.

I quickly corrected the shy look on my face. These people weren't above me in any way, and I didn't want to give them the satisfaction of knowing that I was absolutely terrified.

The other Vocals followed Len's gaze to me, but he seemed to be only one to actually recognize me. The rest of them were just wondering who this stranger was.

Len scanned me up and down, a confused look on his face. "You?"

Typical. I didn't expect him to actually _remember my name._

Miku observed me next, and her eyes lit up. "Oh my god, this is the girl that rejected you last night, huh?" She bumped him with her elbow, an amused grin covering her face.

"Guys," Erik interrupted, standing between us. "Remember how we were talking about bringing someone new in?" He motioned to me. "Well, this is Rin, our first candidate."

Miku snickered, crossing her arms over her chest. "Are you sure she's okay for our… _image?"_ She paused, a sly half smile appearing. "I mean… she dresses like a hippie." The Vocals behind her snickered, and even Len smiled a bit.

I rolled my eyes. They treating it like it was the roast of the century. Even though it _had_ hurt.

The Vocals went to sit down on some couches behind the control panel. Erik sighed.

"Can we all just get along?" he pleaded. "I'm just trying to get you guys some of your fans back."

Miku shrugged. "I don't know what they're so pissed off about anyway. Like, what did we even _do?"_

I put a fake smile on. "It might help if you didn't write the same songs over and over again," I stated. I felt bad about it as soon as the words fell out of my mouth.

Miku's mouth dropped open. "Bitch-"

"Okay! Okay," Erik interrupted again. "Let's just get to recording."

I ignored the nasty looks the Vocals shot my way, and opened my binder up. I flipped to the tab with the song I wanted to perform, and pulled a disc case out. I handed it to Erik, who sat back down at the panel. He looked it over, and slid it into a laptop that was connected to the panel with a bunch of tangled wires.

"Alright," he took a deep breath, typed something on the computer, and then pointed to the door. "Into the live room you go." He turned around in his swivel chair, facing the chatty Vocals. "Guys, shut up. We're recording."

I set my bag down on the ground next to the door, and looked over my shoulder at the vocals one more time. The cast dirty looks after me, and I felt my heart drop.

 _Good job, Rin. They already hate you._

I opened the door to the live room- which was a lot heavier than I thought- and stepped inside. I closed it gently behind me, not wanting to know how loud it's slam was.

The live room was quiet. Very quiet. I stepped up to the mic. Through the window, Erik pointed to a pair of large headphones hanging on it. I picked them up, attemping to steady my hands, and put them on behind my bow. They were cushioned, and very comfy. I thought about how all of the other Vocals have probably worn these as well.

I guess I should get used to it. I could be joining them soon, if this goes well.

Between the soundproof room and the headphones, all I could hear was the thudding of my heart. I could see Erik talking to the other Vocals, who watched me, amused. Len sat in one of the chairs at the panel, and Miku sat in the one next to him. Erik plugged in a pair of headphone in, and offered them to Len. The blonde cast one look at me, and nodded, putting them on. My heartbeat picked up even more. I closed my eyes, trying to keep composed.

Erik offered Miku another pair. She shook her head, sending a nasty look my way. He shrugged, putting them on himself. He looked at me, an encouraging expression on his face, and gave me a thumbs up.

I returned it nervously. I wasn't even trying to hide my shaking arms anymore.

He pressed some buttons on the board, and I stared down at all the wires on the ground, trying to comfort myself in someway. I was too shaky. I couldn't sing like this. My voice would quake.

I heard ticking in my ears, and at first I thought something was wrong, but then the rest of the music filled in, almost making me jump.

I only had a few seconds until I would actually have to start singing. I desperately tried to think of some way to slow my heartbeat. How could music be so stressful? Usually it relaxed me when I sang. Whenever I put on the karaoke songs on my phone, it was to relax me.

That was it. I quickly closed my eyes, and imagined myself sitting on the cold bench outside The Amp in the middle of the night, with only a streetlamp next to me. I took a breath.

" _Azayaka ni utsusu toki wa_

 _Fuhen ni nagarenagare_

 _Mabayui hikari wa aimokawarazu me wo damasu…"_

The words rolled out of my mouth. I smiled. I just had to keep my eyes closed, and then I'd be fine.

I pictured Len with his headphones on, watching me through the window. I wondered if he would like the song. Probably not. I wondered if Erik would like the song, too. Again, probably not. But at that moment I was so proud of the fact that I had even gone inside, gone through the metal door, walked into the live room, and was here. Now. Instead of being at home, wishing I hadn't turned around in front of the building.

I didn't care if they liked it, because _I_ loved it.

" _Shinratsu na kotoba mo imi nasanai hodo_

 _Kyouretsu na kizuato nokoshite mata yamu no…"_

I started nodding my head to the beat. Without even knowing it, my hands rose up and gripped the sides of the headphones.

" _Waratteru atashi no sono me wa mienai_

 _Dareka ga yabuita owaranai memoria…_

 _Waaaah!..."_

Finally, the song drifted out, leaving only the ticking of the clocks at the end. I nodded my head to them, and when they drifted out, I realized that I was scared to open my eyes.

But I had been scared to go backstage last night, hadn't I? I had been scared to get up this morning and walk down here. I was scared to come inside, I was scared to see the Vocals again, and I was scared to get in the booth. But I had done all that.

I slowly opened my eyes, and was shocked to see all seven of the Vocals crowded around the control board, each with a pair of headphones on, and each looking at me expectantly. Even Miku, sitting the chair next to Len, was nodding her head slowly, her face free of emotion. Erik leaned back in his chair with a huge grin on his face. He gave me another thumbs up.

I reluctantly took of the headphones, suddenly very self-conscious of all these people watching through a window. I felt like a dangerous zoo animal. I hung the headphones back on the mic, and opened the door.

As I stepped back into the room, Erik stood up. He outstretched his arms. "You're in," he exclaimed, wrapping me in a hug.

From over his shoulder, Gumi, who was closest to us, spoke up. "He's a hugger," she informed me. It was the first time I ever heard her talk normally, instead of singing.

Erik pulled away, and I looked around the room with wide eyes. "What?" I blinked my eyes in disbelief.

Erik turned back to the group, and clapped his hands together. "Well guys, meet your newest member."

My face was beginning to turn bright red. I wasn't used to this much attention. My arms were glued to my sides, and I felt unable to move.

Erik continued, his back to me. "Remember how we were talking about making some of you guys into duos?" They nodded. "I've got the perfect matchup." Erik pointed to Len. "You-" and then turned around and pointed at me. "And you."

Len looked at Erik in disbelief. "Uh, what?"

"I think you guys would sound good together," Erik defended. "Plus, you guys both have the whole blonde hair, blue eyes thing going on. The fans would love it." My new manager turned back to me. "Now we just need to get you to move into the Vocaloid House, sign some papers, and record some more songs before our next concert."

My expression was blank. I had not understood a single word he just said.

He understood my confusion, even though I hadn't said anything. "The Vocaloid House is where everyone-" he gestured to the seven. "-lives. Two Vocals share one apartment, and there's one apartment per floor." He turned to look back at Len. "And the only person that doesn't have a roommate yet is Len."

"I don't want a roommate, either," he complained to Erik.

"Too bad. You're getting one."

I pushed my headband back nervously. This was not going to be pretty.

"When can you move in?" Erik asked me.

"Wha-? Oh, um... " I stuttered, looking down at the floor.

"Today?"

"I-I mean maybe-"

"Great!" Erik clapped his hands together again. "Then it's settled. Len, empty out that other room in your apartment when you get home."

Len rolled his eyes, and turned his chair back toward the live room. He rested his elbow on the table, rubbing his temple. "Whatever. Are we gonna get to recording or not?"

"Oh, yeah." Erik sat down next to him. "Who's next?"

For a couple of hours, the Vocals took turns going into the booth and recording some of their songs. It was pretty interesting to see their different styles of recording. Gumi liked to headbang to the beat, while Meiko liked to shake her head from side to side and sing with her mouth open really wide. Kaito sang with his hands at his sides the entire time, not grabbing the headphones or anything like everyone else. They all their own little quirks about them.

I guess mine was singing with my eyes closed.

I didn't really know where to sit while they were recording, so, when Miku went into the booth right after I did, I sat in her seat at the control panel next to Len. I didn't want to sit on the couch- because I knew that they already didn't like me very much, and I didn't want to annoy them or anything.

Len didn't look at me at during the couple of hours that we sat together. He handed me a pair of headphones so that I could listen to whoever was in the live room, but that was about it.

Finally, they were all done, and it was time for them to leave. I played a game on my phone while Erik debriefed them on the songs they sang today, and the group flowed out of the room just like they had flowed in.

I quickly pocketed my phone and jumped up after them. I was hesitant, but I knew what I needed to do.

"Hey, Miku," I called after her as she walked down the hallway, her squad following her.

She turned to face me. "What do _you_ want?" The others turned with her, all watching me.

I sighed. "I wanted to apologize." I clutched my bag with both my hands, fiddling with it. I kept her gaze, watching her hostile eyes soften slightly. "I know that you put a lot of work into your songs, and I know that they mean a lot to, and it was really fucked up for me to say that about them." I took a breath. "I'm sorry for saying it, and I didn't mean it."

She stared at me for a second, her brow furrowed, then nodded. "O-Okay," she stammered.

I nodded at her, then turned my attention to Len. "Uh, Erik said you would have a key for me?"

He shook his head. "You don't need one." At first I thought he wasn't going to let me move in. Until he added- "I don't lock it."

I slung my bag over my shoulder. "Uh, okay. When should I bring my stuff over?"

He shrugged. "I'll be there the rest of the day."

"Alrighty."

He turned his back to me, and continued down the hall. One by one, the others followed suit. Miku last.

When they were all gone, I let out a deep breath, looking down at the floor. I really hoped that they would stop making me so nervous.

"They'll warm up to you." Erik's voice came from behind me.

I smiled sheepishly at him. "I sure hope so."

With that, I walked out of the hall, and out of the building.

Now, I just had to convince my parents to let me move out.

 _I finished that chapter really late last night, so please excuse my (probably many) errors._

 _Song(s): Rin's Chronophobia_ watch?v=mf4bHMqYz34

 _Thanks for reading!_


	4. Chapter 4

_Okay, I have no idea what happened, but somehow when I posted the story last night the formatting got all messed up. I think (and hope) that reposting it will fix it, but I'm not sure. Sorry bout that!_

I stormed into my apartment, jolting with energy. To my left, Mom sat on a couch in the living room, reading a thick book. She looked up as I entered, and jumped off the couch.

"How did it go?" She sounded just as excited as I felt.

I couldn't even say it, but my bright expression was enough to tell her that I was becoming a Vocal. I threw my binder on the couch where she had been sitting, and started dancing. "I made it, I made it, I made it!" I chanted.

Mom laughed and took my hand, dancing with me.

"Mom," I sang as we danced. "I'm gonna be famous!"

"What song did you use?"

"Chronophobia."

She threw her head back, giggling. "That was always my favorite." She broke off our dance, and opened my binder to the tab labeled "Chrono." and pulled out the CD. She then skipped into the kitchen, and slid it into our CD player.

I laughed as it started up. She came back over to me, grabbed my hand again, and we danced to the instrumentals.

"Rinny's gonna be a Vocaloid," she said, talking about me like I wasn't holding her hand dancing with her.

I laughed, slowing down the dance. My expression darkened. "They want me to move into the Vocaloid House."

Mom froze, the song still playing in the background. "What?"

I bit my lip. "All the Vocals live in this apartment building… and they want me to move into it with them."

The hurt look on her face tore my heart in two. "But you're only seventeen."

"I know," I replied, feeling guilty. "But I think I should."

Mom pouted. "I don't want my little Rinny moving out yet," she said sadly.

I hated when she called me that, but I felt too bad to correct her. I looked at my shoes. "I'm sorry, Mom."

She sighed. The music ended. "Do you have to?"

"I… I don't know. But if they asked me to, I think I should."

Mom stared at me sadly. Her frown made the little wrinkles forming at the corners of her mouth much more visible.

"I'll still come visit you guys whenever I can," I pleaded. "And I'll text you all the time, and you guys won't have to spend money on all the stuff I need, and you'll have an extra room if you need it-"

Her expression hadn't changed. She didn't seem to care about any of it. Her silence was the worst part.

I looked up at her. "Mom-"

"When?" she asked.

My heart dropped. "Today."

Her eyes bulged. "Today?"

I nodded.

She sighed again. "Let me call your Dad," she said, walking back into the kitchen. "Go start packing your stuff," she added softly.

I brightened up again. "Yes!" I jumped up, grabbed my binder, and ran down the hallway into my room.

I packed in such a hurry that I had no idea where I put any of my stuff. I pulled boxes out of the closet, opened them, stuffed them with anything I could find, closed them, and opened a new box. In only half an hour, my room looked completely bare; the only things that weren't packed up were my bed, my dresser, and my desk. All my loose belongings had fit perfectly into only four boxes.

Mom opened my door, her sad expression less prominent, but still there. "Your Dad's gonna come home from work to help you move all your stuff," she informed me.

I smiled at her, trying to cheer her up. "Okay, cool."

She stared at me for a couple seconds, then at my empty room.

"Mom-" I started, but before I could finish, she wrapped her arms around me tightly. I hugged her back softly.

"I'm happy for you, I really am," she insisted, sniffling. "But I'm selfish and I don't want to let my little Rinny leave me."

"I'm not leaving you," I corrected her. "I'm just moving out."

Mom chuckled. "Same thing," she muttered.

"It's not that far away… And you'll still have Dad," I said, but it was no use. She was going to be sad no matter what I said.

"You're Dad can't go shopping with me, or watch the new episodes of Orange is the New Black with me, or go get my nails done with me, or anything." She paused. "I mean, he can, but he'll complain the whole time."

I laughed, snuggling into her shoulder. "When they put the new season on Netflix, you can come over and we'll watch it together."

She nodded, not replying.

We heard the front door open, and my Dad's booming voice echoed through the apartment. "Rin?"

I pulled out of my Mom's hug, and ran out to the hall. Dad was standing at the door, his clothes dirtied with oil and other dark stains. Typical of a mechanic. "There's my girl!" he yelled, a grin on his face.

I ran up to him, and hugged him. "They loved my song," I told him excitedly.

He gently pushed me off him. "My clothes are gross. Probably shouldn't touch me until after I shower," he explained.

I rolled my eyes, hugging him again. "I know," I said, my face smushed up against an oil stain. "I don't care."

He laughed, pulled away from me again, and walked toward the bathroom. "Right after I get out we'll go, okay?"

"Okay!" I yelled after him, my excitement peaking again.

He kissed Mom on the cheek as he passed her, and entered the bathroom. His head peeked out the door. "Are you all packed?"

"Yup!"

"You have the directions?"

"Uh huh," I nodded my head quickly.

He grinned. "Atta girl." He closed the door.

I looked at Mom, who was still standing in front of my door.

My shoulders slumped. "Mom, you're making me feel really bad."

She shrugged. "You'll get over it. And I will too."

I nodded.

Mom motioned back into my room. "We should probably move your boxes into the car," she stated, looking down at the ground.

"Okay," I responded, my voice weak.

She nodded, and entered my room. I followed her. We each grabbed a box, and traveled down the stairs from the third floor all the way to the ground floor, and slid the boxes into the backseat of our worn-out little car. We took a second trip up and down, and by the time the boxes were loaded in the car, Dad was out of the shower. We decided to come back for the furniture later.

By then, it was nearly six p.m. I figured we should hurry, because I didn't want to wake Len up while I was moving in or anything, and I wanted to go to sleep at some decent time tonight.

The three of us walked down the stairs a final time. Dad went straight for the driver's seat, but I hesitated. Mom stood on the sidewalk, tears forming in her eyes.

I sighed. "Mom…"

She closed her teary eyes. "I know, I know…" she took a deep breath, opening them again. She outstretched her arms. "Just one more hug."

I smiled sadly. "You're acting like we're never gonna see each other again." I embraced her, playing with her hair behind her back.

After a long moment, I pulled away, and climbed into the passengers seat of the car. I put my seatbelt on, and we drove out of the parking lot. I watched Mom out the window as we drove away, until my view of her was obstructed by the building.

"She'll be fine in a few days," Dad comforted me. His expression softened. "It'll just take some getting used to."

I giggled. "Dad, not you too."

"Huh?" He asked defensively.

"Don't start crying on me."

He laughed heartily. "I'm too tough to cry."

"Oh, whatever."

"Really," he insisted. "I am." After a pause: "So. Tell me everything."

That was always my favorite thing for Dad to say. I told him everything, from how I stood outside the studio for almost an hour to apologizing to Miku for my rude remark. I even told him how the Vocals were jerks, but I believed they had to have at least some good left in them.

"Well," Dad said after I finished. "If they ever give you shit, call me." I giggled. "Tell them I'm not afraid to go back to prison."

I laughed harder. "You've never even been to prison."

"Well don't tell them that."

After a quick fit of laughter, we fell into a sweet silence. Dad followed the directions on his phone to the apartments. I stared out the window at the bright lights of the city, admiring the way it looked at night.

Our apartments were in the suburbs, but the closer we got to the Vocal House, the further through the city we drove. Eventually, we passed right through it, which surprised me. I figured their apartment would be in the city, where all the excitement was.

But we kept driving.

"What does Ia think of all this?" Dad asked, as we turned onto a narrow road that led up the foothills.

I stared out the window, only half paying attention to the conversation. "I haven't told her yet."

Dad was surprised to hear this. "Why not?"

"Because Erik told me not to tell anyone yet. There's gonna be this huge… reveal at the next concert, and they don't want the press to know about me yet."

My Dad eyed me, confused. "Who's Erik?"

"My manager." It felt weird having a manager.

"And… you're gonna be in the next concert?"

I took a deep breath. "Yeah."

"Wow," he said breathlessly. "Little Rinny, moving up to the big leagues."

I rolled my eyes. I didn't even want to think about the next concert.

The road twisted and turned up the hill. We began to pass gated driveways with people standing outside of them. Gatekeepers. I gulped.

We went further and further up the hill, and eventually the road ended to yet another gate. Dad slowed the car in front of it.

"I think this is it," he said, unsure.

A man stood next to the gate in a suit. He walked up to the driver's seat window, and knocked on the glass. Dad rolled his window down.

"Sorry sir," the gatekeeper said, his voice friendly. "This is private property." He had a shiny earpiece in his right ear.

The thought occurred to me that all the people working for the Vocals were kind, but they themselves were not. I found that odd.

"Um," I spoke up, my voice small. "I'm Rin. Rin Webs. I'm… moving in." I motioned to the boxes in the back seat.

"ID?"

I fumbled for my wallet, grabbing it out of my bag after some struggle. I handed it to him as Dad leaned back into his seat. The gatekeeper looked it over, and nodded.

"Alright," he said, a kind smile on his face. "Welcome home." He turned from the window and moved back to the gate, flipping a piece of plastic on the wall next to it. He dialed a code into a keypad, and the gate opened. We drove in slowly, and rounded the corner.

I started shaking again. This was quite the upgrade from a public apartment.

From the outside, the building looked like six modern mansions stacked on top of each other. The road ran up to the left side of the building, leading to what I assumed was an underground garage. Next to the descending road was a porch with a couple outdoor couches and a firepit. The walls around the front door were glass. Each floor above had a deck overlooking the city, and I wondered how the view would look. A wall made of white stone ran around the property, so the view wasn't visible from the ground. The sides of the apartment where the decks were was also made of glass, though it looked to be one way glass. In the windows, it showed the reflection of the darkened sky.

Dad stopped in front of the building. "Where do I go?" He asked in awe.

"Uh…" I caught sight of brightly colored hair through the entrance. "Just… just wait here." I got out of the car. "I'll be right back."

I approached the front doors, unsure if I should just open them, or knock.

I was favoring just opening it, but, luckily, just before I reached the door, Luka and Gumi saw me, and stood from the small sitting room they were in.

They opened the door. A half-smile appeared on Gumi's face. "Sup, newbie."

Luka held it open. She gestured to Dad's car. "That hunk of shit yours?"

I took a deep breath. "Yeah," I responded, trying to keep myself composed. "I just need to know where to park so we can bring my stuff in."

Gumi nodded. "I'll help bring it in. Luka, go bring Rin up to Len's floor."

"Alright," Luka agreed. She motioned for me to follow her as Gumi walked over to Dad's car. I walked through the glass door. The room the two were sitting in was clean and modern looking. The floors were covered in glistening white tile, and the walls were covered in black and white paintings. They had been sitting on a couple wooden benches lining the walls with tables between them. Magazines were messily thrown all over the tables.

We walked across the room to an elevator. To the left was a door that led to a set of stairs, made with the same tile as the rest of the floor. To the right of it was a wide hallway. Closed double doors stood on the left wall.

"That's me and Miku's room," Luka informed me. "This is our floor."

I nodded, noticing for the first time that Len and I were going to be the only unisex floor. Miku and Luka shared a floor, Gumi and Meiko shared a floor, and then Gakupo and Kaito shared a floor. I didn't know how to feel about it.

We stepped into the elevator together, and Luka pressed the button on top of the panel. The doors closed. I stood nervously, my hands behind my back. The elevator seemed uncomfortably quiet.

"What was the name of that song you sang today?" Luka asked, breaking the silence.

I lifted my head, unprepared for the question. "Chronophobia."

She nodded. "I'll be honest, I didn't think you were gonna be any good. But that song's pretty sweet."

"Thanks," I said, calming down a bit. I couldn't figure out why I was so tense, and the thought came to me that it might always be like this.

The elevator doors opened, revealing another hallway like the one on the first floor. The double doors were right in front of us.

Luka pounded on the door with her balled fist. "Len!" she yelled. "Your new roommate's here!"

I felt like an intruder.

After some shuffling inside the room, the door opened to reveal Len in his pajamas; a pair of baggy sweats with a plaid pattern on them, and a black t-shirt. His hair was even messier than usual, though it was still pulled back in his signature ponytail.

He looked from me, to Luka, and then back to me. "Sup," he greeted, his expression blank.

"Hey," I replied.

"Gumi and Rin's Dad are bringing up her stuff." She stated. "You clean out the other room?"

Len shrugged. "It's been cleaned out."

Luka looked down at the ground. I sensed a weird tension in the air. "Alright." She pointed her thumb over her shoulder. "Well, I'm gonna go help them move boxes up here."

Len opened the door wider. "Alright," he said as Luka turned around, calling the elevator. He turned his attention to me. "Come on in," he said, holding the door open. I stepped inside. The weird, tense mood disappeared as the elevator doors closed between us and Luka.

I had stepped into the living room. It was shaped like a circle. In the middle were three little steps that led down to a circular couch, which honestly looked more like a bed than a couch. When I first stepped in, I saw a wall in front of me, but as I followed Len around it, I discovered that it had been the back of a fireplace. The pit of the fire landed on the second step leading to the couch, and over it hung a huge, expensive looking T.V. At the far end of the room, opposite to the front door and the fireplace, was a kitchen. It was a lot smaller than I expected it to be, but was filled with expensive cooking appliances. The marble countertops especially caught my eye; I had always loved the look of marble.

To the left of the kitchen was a door, and to the right was the exact same door. The room would have been completely symmetric, if not for the exit leading out to the balcony between the unnamed room on the right and the kitchen.

"That's yours," Len stated, pointing to the slightly ajar door on the right. "My room's the left one."

I traveled around the circled steps and pushed open the door to my new room. My eyes widened. This one room was the size of my parents' entire apartment. It was completely empty, with white walls and white carpet. The door to my walk-in closet was on the right wall, and a door to my bathroom was on the left. I walked toward the bathroom, Len following me.

The bathroom was bare, as well. Through it was the door to the back deck. I slowly crept toward it as if I was in some trance.

We were on the top floor of the building, and I could see the entire city. It was alive with lights; lights from the buildings, lights from the streetlamps, lights from the cars… They were everywhere. Behind the skyscrapers, the last orange tint of the sunset was disappearing, casting the entire city into a beautiful shade.

"Wow…" was all I could say as I brushed my hands along the railing. I heard Len chuckle behind me.

"Yeah," he responded, leaning against the rail. It's pretty sweet."

"Why do I get the room with the balcony?" I asked him, jokingly.

He shrugged, but didn't say anything. I stared out at the view for a couple more silent seconds. After a while, he finally spoke. "I never would have thought that you'd be moving into my apartment when I saw you at the coffee shop."

I smiled. "Yeah, me neither."

Back inside, we heard the front door open. Gumi's voice yelled out.

"Leeeeeeeen!" She called. "We have boxes!"

I giggled. Len turned around, a slightly amused look on his face. He entered through the door to the kitchen, and I followed close behind.

Dad, Gumi, and Luka were an odd combination of people to look at. Especially when all three of them were carrying boxes that were at least half their height, except Dad, who carried two. He seemed relieved when he saw me; he was probably sick of Gumi and Luka already just because of their hair.

"Where am I taking these?" He asked me, out of breath. I pointed to my door. He stumbled through it, and I heard a loud thud come from inside. The girls followed him, and two more thuds sounded soon after.

Gumi and Luka pranced out, seemingly still full of energy.

"We're going to a party with Miku and Meiko," Gumi declared. "Gotta run." She waved to me , flashing me a smile.

Len looked surprised at this statement. "Who's driving you?"

"I am," Gumi answered.

"Are you drinking?"

Luka rolled her eyes. "We'll call you guys if we need you, okay?"

Len crossed his arms. "Don't fucking drive back here if you're drunk."

I nervously centered my bow.

"We woooooooon't," Gumi muttered, acting like a spoiled teenager being scolded by her parents. She quickly grabbed Luka's arm, and pulled her out to the hallway. We heard them crashing down the stairs, as they had decided against the elevator for some reason.

I was surprised at Len's concern. It almost gave me a new sense of the Vocals. Sure, they may be a bad influence, but they all seem like a family. The more I interacted with them, the more I saw that.

I didn't have time to ponder this, though, as my Dad came out of my room looking exhausted.

"Alright," he said, motioning for me to follow him. "Let's go get your furniture."

"Dad, we can just get it tomorrow," I suggested. "You look tired."

He laughed. "All I did was carry some boxes of clothes up six floors in an elevator. I'm fine."

"No, really. I can just… sleep on the couch," I offered, looking at Len. It felt awkward to propose that, since I had only lived there for about five minutes. Len nodded encouragingly.

"Yeah," he chimed in. "It's no problem."

Dad seemed to just notice that Len was there. For a few uncomfortable seconds, he stared at Len like he was prey. I sensed my Dad's Protective Father aura, and quickly spoke up.

"Uh, Dad, this is Len. My, uh... business partner." Again. Awkward.

After a few more tense seconds, Dad thankfully got over it, and quickly bounded over to shake Len's hand. He then turned to me, wrapping me up in a hug.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Rinny," he said softly. I could tell the waterworks were coming.

I hugged him back. "Bye, Dad."

He pulled back, gave me a sad wave, and then went back to hallway. He closed the door gently behind him.

I looked at Len, and he looked at me, and neither of us really knew what to say.

"This all happened pretty quick..." I thought out loud.

Len let out a laugh. "Yeah, it did." An awkward silence filled the air between us.

I yawned, feeling suddenly exhausted.

"Uh, I have a pillow and a blanket that you can use," Len said, walking to his room.

"Yeah, that'd be great," I replied. There was no way I could unpack the boxes tonight. I'd do it in the morning.

Len opened his door and disappeared into his room. Through it, I could see the navy blue walls in his room. I thought about asking if I could paint my room some other color, as the white was pretty plain, but I decided against it. Again, I moved in just about five minutes ago.

Len reappeared with a huge red comforter slung over his shoulder and a pillow under his arm. He tossed them down onto the couch. "The remote for the T.V. is on the fireplace if you want it," he said, not meeting my gaze. "And I'm pretty tired, so I'll probably just go to bed."

I nodded, slightly amused that now he was the one who was nervous around me. "Okay," I answered, gaining some of my confidence back. "Me too."

He rubbed the nape of his neck, finally looking up at me. "Night."

"Night." I flashed him a friendly smile.

He hastily turned and went into his room, closing the door behind him.

And for the first time, I was alone in my new home. I looked around, taking in the sight. No offence to Len, but I was surprised at how clean the place was. I hadn't expected an 18- year old boy who lives alone to have counter tops that you could see your reflection in.

He probably has a maid, I figured.

I went around the apartment, turning the lights off in the kitchen, my room, and my bathroom. I circled around back to living room, turning its lights off last, and stepped down on the couch. I lied down, surprised at how comfy it was, and pulled up the comforter. It reeked of Len's distinct cologne, and I didn't quite know how I felt about that.

Despite the scent, I fell asleep within seconds of closing my eyes.

 _This is probably going to be the last chapter I can upload until Wednesday night. But between now and then I'll be working on the next chapter(s)._

 _Again, sorry about the formatting problems._

 _Thanks for reading!_


	5. Chapter 5

_Sorry I'm late! I was super busy yesterday with schoolwork, and I just barely had time to finish and proofred this chapter today. I'll try to get another chapter out before Sunday._

 _Enjoy! :)_

It took me much longer to wake up then it had to fall asleep. The first thought that came to my mind was how warm I was. Usually, when I woke up in my room, it was freezing. But not today. Mom must have remembered to turn up the heat before she went to bed.

But then I opened my eyes, and a brief moment of panic swept over me. Where was I?

It only lasted a moment. I sat up, pushing the fluffy comforter off me. I only then realized that I had fallen asleep in my sundress. I ran my hand through my hair, remembering that I had also forgotten to take off my bow. It wasn't there.

I sighed. I'd just find it later.

The living room was lit by the little bit of sunlight coming in through the windows. They were positioned to face west, however, so the rising sun didn't shine straight at me. I was thankful for that. No more waking up to the glaring rays flowing straight into my eyes.

I stood up, stretching my arms. My first night sleeping in my new apartment was amazing- I hadn't woken up once during the night. I felt refreshed. And hungry.

I looked at the kitchen, unsure. Would it be rude to just go through the fridge? I mean, maybe I could find a granola bar or something for a quick breakfast.

I stood on the step next to the couch, my brow furrowed. Maybe I should just go dig through my clothes for a clean outfit and walk to McDonalds. But then I would have to walk all the way down town and back up. Plus, I didn't know the code to the gate.

My stomach grumbled at me. _Ah, fuck it,_ I thought, skipping across the room. I walked around the island, quietly looking through all the cabinets. The clock over the oven read 6:23. I didn't want to wake Len up this early on our first day of living together.

I paused my searching, fazed by the thought. _Living together._

My growling stomach brought me back to my objective. I opened cabinet after cabinet, finding plates, bowls, cups, and everything else except food.

On the left side of the room next the fridge, I opened a cabinet that was almost as tall as me. My eyes widened as enough junk food to feed a small army was revealed to me. Doritos, potato chips, Oreos... My eyes scanned the cabinet like a hungry lion's.

They landed on a box of pancake mix. I bit the inside of my cheek, pondering whether or not I should make them. I mean, they were my favorite breakfast food of all time.

I shook my head and grabbed a package of pop tarts. I didn't want to make a mess.

Pop tarts in hand, I walked to my room, and stared at my boxed measly amouth of belingings made my new room look even bigger. I unwrapped my breakfast, and took a bite. These boxes weren't going to unpack themselves, so I set the poptarts on one box, and opened another.

The box of choice was full of my clothes. I opened my closet, shocked that someone could even own enough clothes to fill it. Luckily, there were empty hangers lining the walls. I grabbed a handful off the metal bar, and threw them on the box next to my pop tarts.

One by one I unpacked my sloppy pile of dresses, placing a hanger in each one. Every once in a while I would break another piece of my breakfast, slowly silencing my growling stomach.

When I finished with the first box, I folded it up and placed it in the back of my closet. Eventually, I made my way through the boxes, and through the pop tarts. The closet looked pathetic with entire wardrobe hanging in it; it didn't even take up a fourth of the space. Even with my jeans folded on the shelves. I chuckled. I always thought I had too many clothes. I guess I could tell my parents to keep my dresser.

I had nowhere to put the rest of my belongings until they dropped off my desk, so I left the last box alone.

I went back into the kitchen, throwing away the wrapper. It was almost 8 o'clock now, and Len still wasn't awake.

I sat back down on the couch, unsure what to do. The remote for the T.V. was on the fireplace, exactly as Len had told me, so I grabbed it and turned it on. He had all the good channels, which I was pleased to discover. I clicked on one of them. They were playing The Breakfast Club; one of my favorites.

I began to daydream about the box of pancake mix in the cabinet again. Why not make them? If I cleaned up after myself, and made Len some... What's the worst that could happen?

I took a deep breath. He could be pissed that I went through all his stuff. But while he'd be angry at me he'd be chowing down on my famous buttermilk pancakes.

With that thought, I hopped back up off the couch and into the kitchen.

After another scavenger hunt through the cabinets, I found all the dishes I needed, along with all the ingredients. I even found a bag of chocolate chips, and didn't think twice about swiping them. They were the milk chocolate ones, too. Not the semi-sweet bullshit.

The more ingredients I mixed together, the more excited I became. I hadn't had chocolate chip pancakes in forever. I plopped the chocolate into the creamy batter. I licked my lips, stirring it some more. It took me a couple of minutes to get the stovetop to heat up, but I figured it out. I placed a pan on the burner, hoping it was the right one, and poured some batter into the pan.

As I placed the bowl back on the counter, I heard a door open behind me. For a split second I felt like a child getting caught with their hand in the cookie jar. I looked over my shoulder, and saw Len step out of his room. I turned to face him, nervous.

"Something smells good," he stated, running a hand through his messy hair. He walked toward the kitchen. He pulled out one of the stools, which stood on the opposite side of the island from me, but walked up next to me instead of sitting.

I relaxed. "Chocolate chip pancakes."

He smiled slightly, looking into the bowl of batter. The stove caught his eye. "The pan's on the wrong burner," he pointed out, chuckling. He moved it to the burner on the right side.

I blushed. "I couldn't figure out how to work it," I explained.

He let out a laugh, and sat on the stool, resting his elbows on the marble counters. I watched the batter begin to bubble in the pan.

"It doesn't have to be awkward," I said, desperately trying to keep the tense silence away from us.

I heard him sigh behind me. "Yeah... I don't know. It's kinda weird to have someone else living here."

I had been referring to the fact that he had been trying to sleep with me, but I guess the living together issue could be solved in this conversation too. "Yeah. My parents weren't too happy about it, either."

"It's not like I'm not happy about it," he replied quickly. "I mean, I'm not _specifically_ happy about it, either." He paused again. "That came out wrong."

I flipped the pancake, slightly amused at his flustered speech. "You're neutral about it."

"Yeah." He confirmed. He seemed glad that I hadn't taken offence to it. "It's just... At this time yesterday, I never would have thought that someone would be living in my apartment, cooking me pancakes in the morning."

I laughed. "Chocolate chip pancakes," I corrected. I smiled, though the tension between us wasn't exactly gone.

He chuckled, pulling his phone out of his pocket.

"How many do you want?" I asked.

He shrugged, but didn't answer.

"Alright," I said quietly. "You get two then." I grabbed a plate from the cabinets. I was pretty much an expert on where everything was in here from my scavenger hunts. I plopped the first finished pancake onto the plate, and poured the batter out for the next one.

I was able to stack both of our plates with three sweet-smelling pancakes. I set Len's plate in front of him and he thanked me briefly before tearing into them like a starved animal. I set mine on the counter and put the pan in the sink. I decided that I'd clean them when I finished breakfast. That reminded me...

"Your apartment is super clean," I commented.

He shrugged. "I like cleaning." He spoke with his mouth full.

"You don't have, like, a maid or something?"

He laughed. "No."

I blushed at my suddenly stupid-sounding question. I ran water over the pan, my back to Len, thankful he couldn't see my red face. "I've just… I've never met someone who actually enjoys cleaning." I turned my back as soon as I felt my blush disappear.

Len shrugged again, still looking down at his phone and shoveling his food into his mouth. "There's worse hobbies to have."

"I'm not sure cleaning would classify as a hobby." I put my plate on the island, and pulled out the stool next to him.

"Yeah." He speech was muffled. It sounded more like "Myeeh" through the pancakes. I took that as a sign they were good, and began to dig into my own plate. They were delicious.

"So," I started again. "Now that we're… uh, living together, we should probably at least get to know each other a little bit."

At this, Len finally looked up from his phone. There were only a few scraps of pancakes still present on his plate. "Uh, whadaya wanna know?"

I laughed nervously, realizing that I actually knew a lot more about him than he knew about me. "Honestly, I already know a lot about you- not in, like, a stalker-ish way… I mean like a fan."

He put his fork down, laughing at me again. "Oh yeah, you were a fan until the concert."

I cocked my head to the side. "What makes you think I'm not a fan now?"

"Well, I figured…" he rubbed the nape of his neck, trying to pick his words. "Look," he started. "I would _never_ have talked to you like.. I did… if I had known you were gonna be working with me."

My eyes widened in realization. "Oh."

"Yeah, I'm really sorry."

"It's fine," I said, meaning it. He had reminded of me of my theory of the Vocal Family again. It made sense to me that Len wouldn't want to flirt with Miku, Gumi, or the others. They were like his family. But fans must have been a different story. And I was part of the family now.

Len stabbed the last piece of pancake on his plate with his fork. "That actually makes me feel a _lot_ better." He let out a laugh as he chewed.

I smiled. "That's good. We got all of the awkward stuff out of the way."

He picked up his plate, taking it to the sink. He didn't reply as he washed the melted chocolate chip stains off his plate.

I was just beginning my last pancake when we heard a knock on the door. Len turned the faucet off, and walked off towards it. I left my plate and followed him.

I looked over his shoulder as he opened the door, revealing a nervous-looking Miku. She was dressed in her pajamas, her hands were folded behind her back. I remembered that the last time I saw her was when I apologized to her. The tense mood returned to me as quickly as it had disappeared.

"Yo," Miku greeted Len with a wave.

"What's up?" He asked.

She looked past him, meeting my gaze. "Luka told me you moved in last night." Her voice was monotone.

I stared at her, unsure of how to respond. "Yeah."

She paused, looking down at the ground. "So, I was thinking about what you said," she started. "About my songs."

Len rolled his eyes. "She didn't mean it, Miku." He was wrong. I did.

"No-" she cut him off, looking straight at me again. "You-you're right."

"What?" Len and I said simultaneously.

Miku's eyes darted back and forth between us. "I was listening over some of our songs," she continued, her eyes settling on Len. "She's right. They all sound the same."

He furrowed his brow. "But you love your songs."

Miku shrugged. "Maybe the fans are right."

 _Why wouldn't they be?_ I asked myself.

Her blue eyes flickered to me. "I was wondering if you could help me."

"Help you with what?" I asked, taken aback.

She moved her hands from behind her back, revealing a small notebook. "With writing some new songs for the next concert."

My heart began to pound in my chest. I stood there, dumbfounded, and unable to find my words.

Miku sensed this, the corners of her mouth lifting up into a small smile. "You wanna come hang out with us downstairs for a little and help us out?"

Len looked over her shoulder at me, a rough expression on his face. I ignored him. "S-sure."

Miku's face lit up. "Awesome." She took a step in, grabbed my arm firmly, and pulled me out the door. She slammed the door shut behind us, not giving Len another glance.

She led me toward the stairs at the end of the hall, and let go of me as she bounded down the steps. Her hair gracefully flowed after her. She clutched her notebook to her chest.

"How're you settling in?" She asked me in a friendly tone of voice.

"I haven't even been here for twenty-four hours yet."

She giggled. "I know, but how's the apartment? How's Len dealing with having a new roommate?"

I shrugged. "He seems kinda… distant towards me. Like he's uncomfortable or something."

Miku nodded. We passed the third floor. "He's kinda weird around people at first. But he'll get used to you," she assured me. "I'm sure it doesn't help that he was trying to pick you up at the concert."

I laughed. It echoed through the staircase. We reached the final floor. "For sure."

Miku returned the laugh, and bounded childishly across the tiled floor. I noticed then that she didn't have any shoes on. She stopped in front of her double doors, waiting for me.

"Welcome, to my humble abode," she sang, dramatically opening the double doors.

I smiled, stepping through. Her apartment was almost identical to Len and I's, except she didn't have a fireplace, and her living room was shaped as a square instead of a circle. The door on the right was painted pink, the one on the left was painted teal. Their kitchen looked exactly like ours, but their living room was quite different. Instead of just having one couch, they had three bright red ones arranged around a large, dark wood coffee table. On the couches, Luka and Gumi were sitting. They had been chatting excitedly, but as we entered, they turned their attention to us. They were both dressed in their pajamas as well.

"Sup, new girl," Gumi greeted, standing up on the couch. Her green hair stood up at odd angles from her head. Luka glanced my direction, but said nothing.

"Sup." I waved at Gumi.

Miku jumped down onto one of the couches, patting the empty spot next to her. "Let's write."

I settled next to her, noting that her couch was much softer than Len and I's. Luka rolled her eyes as I ran my hand over the fabric. I ignored it, but Miku gave her a dirty look.

"I just think it's dumb that you're gonna change your whole style because the newbie said she didn't like it," Luka complained, answering a question that was never asked. Her gaze fell on me. "No offence."

I bit the inside of my cheek, not replying. Offence taken.

Miku took a deep breath, as if preparing for a speech. "Look," she began, crossing her legs. "You can't just ignore the fact that less people have been coming to our concerts, buying our songs on iTunes, and coming backstage for autographs." She set her notebook in her lap, open to a blank page. "And if writing some new kinds of songs is what it takes to get them to come to our shows, buy our music, and actually _want_ to meet us, then I'm gonna write some new kinds of songs."

Gumi's eyes darted between the two long-haired girls as they talked.

Luka crossed her arms. "It doesn't matter what the _fans_ think as long as _you_ like it."

I narrowed my eyes. _Aren't the fans the whole point?_ I wondered.

" _We're_ not the ones buying concert tickets and albums," Miku argued. "And I can write a song that's different from what we've been writing and still like it."

"You're selling yourself out."

Miku began to raise her voice. "Why, because I want my fans to like me and my music?"

Luka sat up. "No, because _you_ like the music _you_ make. Why do you have to change it?"

Gumi and I glanced at each other, daring each other to interrupt the feud. The two continued bickering in the background, and Gumi stared at me sheepishly.

"Guys," I snapped, shutting both Miku and Luka up. I sighed, looking at Luka. "Why did you start singing?"

She narrowed her eyes at me. "What kind of a question is that?"

"You started writing your own songs and singing them because people would listen to them, right?" I tried to keep my voice as calm as possible.

"Yeah, but-"

"And so that people liked them?" I asked. Luka just stared at me like I was crazy. "It's not just about the music that you like. Without your fans you wouldn't even be sitting in this room."

A smug look appeared on Luka's face. "Well, _you're_ sitting in this room. Last time I checked, _you_ don't have any fans. Why are _you_ here?"

"So you're telling me that you didn't like Chronophobia?" I retorted, enjoying the smug look wipe itself off her face. "I'm pretty sure that you guys are my fans. And that's enough for me."

Luka leaned back, unable to reply. "Whatever."

I sighed. Gumi looked at me nervously. She looked just as uncomfortable as I did.

A couple seconds of silence passed. Miku ended it by grabbing a pen off of the coffee table. "Like I said earlier." Her eyes flashed excitedly, completely ignoring the fight that just occurred. "Let's write."

It was a slow start, but our progress began to pick up as Miku and I brainstormed ideas for her songs. Gumi came over and sat with us, specifically helping with the instrumentals. Luka stayed where she was, her thumbs twiddling away on her phone, pretending not to listen to us. Occasionally Miku, Gumi, and I would wander off-topic, so it took us quite a while to get the lyrics to the first song the way we wanted them. We talked for hours and hours about the song, discussing everything from the flow of the lyrics to the instruments in the background.

When it was just starting to get dark, Luka sucked up her pride. We watched her as she put her phone away and moved over to help us.

 _Agh, I LOVE writing dialogue between the characters. Especially Rin and Len. I know these first few chapters are kind of boring, but it really starts to pick up in Chapter 6. And we haven't had that many songs yet, and that's really gonna start to pick up, too. If you don't hear from me by Sunday, the next chapter will be posted Wednesday._

 _Thanks for reading :)_


	6. Chapter 6

Miku got more and more excited with every line that we wrote. By the time the clock read 9:30, the four of us were joking and laughing like we had been best friends for years. Even Luka, though she did speak a little less than the rest of us.

Gumi ran around the apartment, grabbing instruments from both Luka and Miku's room. We tested out the sounds of each with the lyrics, and decided that the keyboard sounded best. We couldn't simulate the beat, because Miku and Luka didn't have drums in their apartment and they said they didn't feel like walking upstairs to Kaito and Gakupo's room.

It was almost 11 pm. Miku stared in awe at her notebook page, now filled with words. It had scribbles all over it in red pen, and overall looked like a giant jumble of letters and marks. However, Miku held it like it was the Bible.

"I love it," she whispered as we began to wrap it up. She jumped up like an excited five-year-old who was just given a new toy. "I love it, I love it, I love it! It's so fucking good, I love it!"

I grinned, my eyes drooping from exhaustion. I forgot how tiring it was to write a song. We'd been at it for almost eight hours straight.

"Let's go record it," Miku continued. Her hair was frizzy from laying on the couch for so long.

"What?" Gumi stared at her in confusion.

"Right now," Miku continued, jumping in excitement. "Let's go record it right now."

Luka let out a laugh. "It's the middle of the night."

"I have the key to the studio. Let's go! Please?" Miku flashed her puppy dog eyes.

Luka waved her off. "Fuck that."

Gumi thought for a second. "I'll go," she offered, brushing her hair behind her ear.

"Yes!" Miku grabbed her by the arm, yanking her to her feet. Gumi let out a yelp, before being dragged to the door. She glanced back at Luka and I. We shrugged at her as she disappeared into the lobby. Miku had completely forgotten about our existence.

Luka and I were left alone. I stared at the ground, my eyes half-closed.

Luka laughed. "You look high."

I smiled slightly. "I'm tired as all hell." I sighed, imagining my fluffy, comfortable bed. My eyes widened. "Oh shit," I looked around, realizing I had left my phone in my apartment.

"What's wrong?" Luka asked.

"My parents were supposed to bring by the rest of my stuff today." I stood up. "And I left my phone in the apartment."

"Tsk, tsk," Luka scolded. "Probably worried sick."

I feeling of dread washed over me. My poor mother. "Yeah, I'm gonna go."

"Alright." Luka started looking through her phone again. I jumped over the couch, and opened the front doors.

"Wait," I heard Luka say behind me. I turned.

"Yeah?"

Her shoulders drooped. She searched for her words. "Miku was right," she commented finally. "That song was pretty sick."

I smiled. "It is."

I closed the door behind me. _Apology accepted,_ I thought as I climbed the stairs.

The closed door to my- _our_ \- apartment stopped me. I again wondered if I should knock, or just go in.

I sighed. I needed to get over this. I lived here; and I didn't have to act like a guest in my own house. I confidently gripped the handle, pushing the door open. I heard the T.V. playing, and walked around the fireplace to see Len laying on the couch. He gave me an indifferent look, and returned his gaze to the T.V. My lost bow sat on one of the steps.

"About time," he commented, his voice harsh.

I narrowed my eyes at his hostile tone. "It took us a while to get the song right."

"You wrote an entire song in _one day?_ "

I nodded. "Yup."

He raised his brow in surprise, still staring at the T.V. He didn't respond.

I bit my lip. Since the concert, I'd let the Vocals walk all over me with their rudeness. At least they weren't as mean as they had been, but still. I had spoken up at the concert, why hadn't I spoken up since?

"What's with the sudden hostility?" I asked, my heart thumping. I didn't like picking fights. "We were getting along great this morning."

Len rolled his eyes. Just when I thought he wasn't going to reply, he answered. "You can't just walk in here on your first day and change our style."

"The hell are you talking about?"

He sat up. "Our songs are our songs. There's no need to change them. Especially when you haven't even been here a full day."

A look of disgust covered my face. Not this again. "Miku is the one who asked _me._ I'm not trying to change anything." I thought back to this morning. "And yeah," I added. "I _did_ mean it."

"Meant what?" His eyes were glued to the screen, but he wasn't paying attention to it.

"This morning, you told Miku that I didn't mean it. About how her songs are all the same trash? I _did_ mean it. And it's not just her. _All_ your songs are the same exact way."

He finally took his eyes off the screen, glaring at me. I met his gaze, not intimidated anymore.

"There's nothing wrong with Miku asking for my help to write a song that will get her fans back." I began to raise my voice. "In fact, you, and the rest of the Vocals, would probably benefit from doing the same."

Len stood from the couch. "Don't tell me how to write my music," he said through clenched teeth.

I paused, and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. But it's true."

He didn't reply. He just watched me with balled fists.

We kept each other's gaze, challenging the other to back off. I realized that we were both very stubborn people, as we stood that way for a long time. Then I remembered my phone, and decided to be the bigger person. I turned my back on him, slamming my bedroom door shut behind him. That could have gone better, but what's done is done.

My phone was sitting on the lone cardboard box, next to a small pile of pop tart crumbs. I picked it up, and cringed at the number of notifications I had. 14 missed called; a combination from Mom, Dad, and Ia. Shit, in all the hecticity of the past few days, I completely forgot about my best friend.

I called Mom first. I could hear the relief in her voice when she picked up. I explained to her why I hadn't picked up earlier, and she told me Dad insisted on bringing my furniture tonight, despite the time. I had no choice but to agree, and hung up with them as Dad informed me that he was loading everything into the car. After the call, I wondered how he would be able to stuff the desk and the bed into our tiny car, but shrugged it off. Dad would find a way.

I sat in the middle of the room on the floor, staring at Ia's number on the screen. She had no idea that any of this was happening, and I felt terrible keeping it from her. I imagined her at the next Vocal concert, either by herself or with some of her other friends, and her face when I came on stage, singing the song that me and her used to dance to in my room when we were kids. Would she feel betrayed? Or proud? Or both? I could imagine her feeling all three.

I couldn't bear to call her- I couldn't risk her finding out. It's not like I didn't trust her, but Erik didn't. And I couldn't blame him- he didn't know her like I did.

I texted her, telling her that I had been working at the Ozean all day. She knew something was going on; it wasn't like me to text her instead of calling her, but I just told her I was tired. I tried to keep the conversation as brief as possible.

I felt terrible by the time I told her I was going to bed, and I promised myself that I would see her before the concert. We were usually attached at the hip, and not seeing her until the show would be so different for both of us. And she won't even know that I'll be there…

I put my phone back on the box, pushing the thoughts into the back of my head. They would all be over whenever the next concert was.

Dad was on his way, and I felt the need to let Len know that we'd be kind of noisy for a few minutes, but I didn't want to see him after our argument. I knew that I would probably have to, though.

I stalled leaving my room by changing out of my dress-which I had been wearing so long that it was beginning to smell- and into some pajamas. It was hot in the apartment, so I chose some shorts and a short sleeved shirt. Basic.

When I opened my door, however, the T.V. was off, and Len wasn't on the couch. The door to his room was closed, and I breathed a sigh of relief. It could wait until the morning.

Dad come and dropped off my stuff, gave me a quick hug, and left. The visit was brief. He looked as tired as I did, and I was hit with another wave of guilt. My parents didn't have the income from my job anymore. I prayed that they were okay financially. When I got my first paycheck as a Vocal, they would never have to worry about it anymore.

My tiny bed and dresser made my room look even emptier. But at least I would have somewhere to sleep tonight; Len didn't leave me a comforter for the couch. I fell asleep before my head even hit the pillow.

My sweet sleep was interrupted by loud pounding on my door. I rolled onto my stomach, pulling a pillow over my ears.

"What?" I yelled, annoyed.

"Get up! We have shit to do," Len yelled through the door.

"Ugh," I grunted. "Can it wait?"

He seemed almost as annoyed as I did. "Erik wants us all at the studio. We're late."

I shot up, throwing my comforter off me. I bounded over to the door, ripping it open.

"Why didn't you wake me up earlier then?" I yelled. He was ready to go, wearing another button-up shirt and dark jeans.

His eyes glimmered with mischief under his styled hair. "I thought you were already awake," he explained sarcastically. Liar.

I glared at him, and slammed the door in his face. Two steps later and I was hurriedly picking through my dresses in my closet.

"Better hurry," Len yelled again. "We're all waiting on you."

I clenched my teeth together, changing into the first dress I saw in a matter of seconds. I couldn't tell exactly which dress it was, but I could see the colors on it were red and white. I grabbed a red bow, a tiny brush, and my shoulder-bag before running into the living room.

Len stood in front of the door, one hand in his pocket and the other holding his phone. He grinned when I walked up next to him.

"Asshole," I muttered as I slipped my shoes on. I ran the brush through my hair a few times.

He responded by letting out a quiet laugh of victory. I took a deep breath, draping my bag over my shoulders. We walked into the hall, and down the stairs.

"What time is it?" I asked. I guess I should at least try to be civil with him.

"Ten," he replied.

I winced as my brush snagged on a knot in my hair. "Was that really necessary?"

His wolfy smile appeared again. "I don't know what you're talking about."

We reached the ground floor, but Len kept going down the stairs. I followed. I had never been in the basement.

At the bottom of the stairs, there was a heavy door. Len opened it, and I saw that this was not the basement. It was the garage. The walls and floor were made of cement, and it looked a lot like public underground parking. There was only one car down here, however. It was an expensive-looking sports car painted yellow and lined with black. I had never been into cars, but Len's looked pretty cool.

He strode over to the driver's side, opening the door. It opened up, instead of out. My eyes widened. I hadn't ever ridden in a car like this. I pulled the door up on the passenger's side, and stepped back so the door wouldn't uppercut me.

"Where's everyone else's cars?" I asked as I sat on the black leather seat.

Len put his keys in the ignition. "They're already at the studio."

My heart dropped with the door as I closed it. I put my seatbelt on, and Len did the same. I couldn't believe I was late on my first day. My first _real_ day. I sighed, staring out the tinted windows and Len drove out of the underground garage.

The gatekeeper opened the gate as soon as he saw Len's car- I guess it _was_ pretty distinct. Len rolled down his window, waving to the guard as we passed him.

It was the first time I had been off the property since I moved in. I continued brushing through my knotty hair as the car glided down the hill. When I was pleased with my appearance, I put my tiny brush into my bag, and slid my headband through my hair. I wished I could have worn the white one. I imagined it still sitting on the step next to the couch.

"How late are we?" I rubbed my temple, a headache already forming. I had forgotten to bring my makeup.

Len shrugged. "Only, like, half an hour."

"Great," I muttered.

The ride to the studio was short. We pulled into the parking lot in no more than fifteen minutes. Behind the studio was a lot that I hadn't seen last time we were here, and all the parking spots except one were filled with cars that looked like Len's, but in a variety of different colors. It made me smile; it was so obvious who owned which car.

Len pulled into the last spot, and turned the car off. We both jumped out, and I followed him through a backdoor into the building.

The door led straight into the control room, and the rest of the Vocals were sitting on the couches, talking. Their heads turned to us as we walked in, and they greeted us with a cheer.

Miku jumped up first, smiling at me. "Gumi and I stayed up all night getting the music recorded." She grabbed my hands, jumping up and down. "It's so good!" She cheered, smiling from ear to ear.

I looked at Len, an I-told-you-so look in my eyes. He shook his head, his face blank, and went to sit with the others. "That's awesome, M," I said. A corner of my mouth lifted into a half smile as he walked past me. "Did you record it yet?"

She flashed Len a confused look, before turning back to me. "Nope," she answered, her voice still bright. "We're waiting for Erik."

"Well wait no longer," the door to the front room opened and the manager himself walked in. He was looking down at a thick stack of papers in his hands. "Let's get to it." He sat down in one the control board chairs. I followed him, and Miku bounded over to the door, pulling it open quickly. I smiled at her. She reminded me of the Miku that had hugged me and taken pictures with me when I was thirteen.

As I settled into the padded chair, Erik set the stack of papers on the board in front of me. He placed a finger on it, looking at me. "This is your paper work," he informed me. My shoulders drooped. "I know," he said. "It sucks. But I need it by the next concert."

I looked down at it. "When's the next concert?"

"A week from tomorrow."

I widened my eyes. " _What?"_

Gumi laughed behind me. "I know how you feel," she said, a huge grin on her face. "Wasn't too long ago I was the nervous new girl."

I swiveled my chair to look at her. "Well… I just started, like, yesterday. I didn't think it'd be that soon."

Erik shrugged. "It's a smaller one. It's at one of their favorite stages," Erik gestured towards the Vocals.

Luka perked up. "Red Rocks?"

Erik nodded. The Vocals smiled, and a chorus of excited "Yeah"'s rose up. "It's further in the mountains," Erik informed me when they calmed down.

"It's fuckin' sweet," Luka added.

I smiled, trying to hide the nest of butterflies still fluttering in my stomach.

A knocking on the glass brought us back to the matter at hand. Miku was on the other side of the window, headphones on. She wore an impatient look. Erik waved his hands in the air defensively, knowing she couldn't hear him, and pointed at the mic. She stood behind it and crossed her arms. Erik put on his own headphones, and pulled another pair out of a shelf below him. He handed them to me. I smiled in thanks, plugging them in and putting them on. If it weren't for the impending doom of my first concert, I would have been just as excited as Miku to hear the song.

The music started up, and I was again reminded of the old Miku. This song sounded like her. She looked at me through the window, her eyes wide. She almost looked nervous. I nodded encouragingly, and she smiled back. The beat picked up, and she began bouncing to the beat, smiling sweetly down at the mic. The Vocals behind me jumped up to grab a pair of headphones each.

" _Rolling Girl, wa itsu made mo.."_

I smiled wider. To my left, Len tapped my shoulder. He pointed to the headphones. _Oh yeah,_ I remembered. _With me here they're one pair short._ I took them off, turning the right speaker to my ear and the left to his ear. He kept his face straight. Didn't want to sacrifice his pride by admitting I was right, I guess.

" _Sawagu atama no naka o_

 _kaki mawashite, kaki mawashite…"_

She smiled as she sang, her blue eyes sparkling. I sighed. I had actually helped _the_ Miku Hatsune write a song, and she loved it. _I_ loved it.

The others were bouncing their heads, except Gumi, who was having a dance party with herself. She had already heard it before; she wrote the music.

Len looked down at the switches and buttons on the control board, spacing out to the music. I watched him for a second, trying to figure out what he was thinking. He hadn't been this close to me since the night of the concert, and I hadn't really payed attention then. I could see the gears turning in his head through his unfocused, royal blue eyes. I imagined him thinking of the best way to apologize for the shit he pulled this morning, but it was a long shot.

He looked up at me, catching me staring at him. I raised my eyebrows, silently asking if he liked it. He shook his head, smiling softly, and looked back down at the controls. _You may have won the battle,_ I thought, referring to our being late. _But I won the war._

The music caught me off guard as it cut out suddenly, and the Vocals all put their headphones down. I followed suit, realizing the song had ended.

Erik stood up, flashing Miku a thumbs up like he had done when I sang Chronophobia. His smile stretched from ear to ear. "Perfect," he looked down at me. I scooped the stack of paperwork and stood with him. "You're already making a difference, kid."

I smiled, feeling a slight blush come to my cheeks. "I guess…"

Miku ran out the door, laughing. "That's _definitely_ my favorite song I've ever written." She stopped in the middle of the group, who patted her on the back and praised her for the song.

"For good reason, too," Erik added. He turned to the group. "Anyone else need to record anything?"

They all shook their heads. Gumi grinned. "Me and Rin are writing a song. We'll record it before Monday," she said. I gave her a confused look. She smirked at me. I guess that was her way of asking me.

Erik nodded. "Well, that's good. I have errands to go run anyway."

I leaned toward Len. "Is that it?" I whispered as Erik chatted to the group about the concert next Saturday.

"Yeah," he responded, crossing his arms. "Sometimes we're here for three hours a day and sometimes we're here for three minutes a day. It all depends on who wrote what."

I nodded, slightly surprised by the leniency of the company. This was not how I expected the music business to be. "Why did we have to come, then?"

Len let out a quiet laugh. "Moral support."

I smiled. "Makes sense."

Erik turned to Len and I as the others began to exit out the back door. "I have some stuff for you two," he said. "Follow me." He started down toward the front desk. I narrowed my eyes, looking at Len. He shrugged his shoulders, just as confused as I was.

We followed him through the heavy metal door, and stopped in front of the front desk. The lobby was much brighter than the back room. I squinted my eyes in the bright sunlight. It wasn't even noon yet, and the sun shone blindingly through the windows

Erik stopped in front of the desk. The same lady who had opened the doors for me stood behind it, the same friendly smile painted on her face. He leaned on the counter. "You have their stuff?" Our manager pointed a thumb at us.

She thought for a moment, and pulled a cardboard box out from below the counter. "This?" she asked, resting a hand on it.

Erik ripped the tape off the top, and opened it. I couldn't see what was inside from looking over his shoulder. Erik nodded. "Yup, this is it." He picked up the box, and held it out to us. We leaned over it.

Inside were two outfits. My eyes widened as I realized they were our stage outfits.

 _I have a signature clothes. Like an actual Vocal._

"Whoa whoa whoa," Len said, holding up his hands. "I already have an outfit."

Erik shrugged. "Now you have a new one."

"Can I…?" I asked, pointing at the box.

Erik nodded. "Yours is the one on the right."

I set my paperwork down on the counter and pulled out the shirt, noting the silky white fabric. It was a crop top with a yellow bow hanging over the chest. The collar was black with a yellow line running along the edges. I threw the shirt over my shoulder, and pulled out the pair of shorts folded neatly beneath them. They were black with a yellow belt running through the buckle. I took a deep breath. I had never been a huge fan of short shorts.

Len examined his outfit as I did the same, though he looked much grumpier than me. "Do they really have to _match?"_ he asked, holding up his shirt. It looked almost exactly like mine, except it had sleeves that ended halfway to the elbow and was much longer. Instead of a yellow bow hanging down the front, it had a yellow tie.

I shrugged. "I think it's cute," I laughed, trying to cheer him up.

He pulled out his shorts. They were, again, exactly like mine, but much longer and much looser. They had an extra yellow stripe across the bottom of each leg.

"What are these?" I asked, pulling out what looked like sleeves to a shirt.

"Those are your arm and leg warmers," Erik answered, handing Len the box.

Len raised his eyebrows. "Leg warmers?"

"Just… Just go try them on," Erik waved us off, and pulled out his phone. "I have to send pictures to the designers.

I grabbed the rest of my outfit, and followed Len to the bathrooms. Our feet patted over the tiled floors in sync. He stopped outside of the men's room, and turned to me.

"Do you _actually_ like it?" He asked. I could sense humor in his voice, though his expression was blank.

I smiled. "I do."

"I don't want to put it on."

I shrugged. "I don't think you have a choice." I pushed past him into the women's room.

I changed in the stall. A full-body mirror hung on the wall next to the exit, and I set my dress on the counter, looking myself over. The outfit looked cute, but I felt a little exposed with my stomach showing. The leg warmers, though they sounded gross, actually suited the outfit very well. I liked the feel of the cuffs around my arms, too. The fabric was soft, and it made me feel graceful the way they flowed through the air whenever I moved my arms. The shoes they gave me were white converse; nothing special. You could barely see them under the leg warmers.

Scooping my clothes back up, I pushed the door open into the lobby. Erik smiled at me as I walked back to the desk.

He looked me up and down. He rubbed the bottom of his chin, his finger scraping against his stubble. "Something's missing," he commented.

I nodded. "It feels weird without a bow on."

"Don't you have a white one?"

 _I'd actually have it on if Len didn't decide to exact revenge on me this morning._ "Yeah, I left it at the apartment."

"There you go," he said. We heard the door open behind us. I turned to see Len walking out, the box under his arm. I looked down at my outfit, and then over at his, and smiled. Erik mirrored me.

Len rolled his eyes. "I'm only doing this because I have to."

I laughed, and even Len smiled a bit.

Erik held up his phone. "Stand next to each other," he commanded. We did, and he snapped a picture. "They'll love it," he pointed at me. "Just make sure you get that bow."

I ran a hand through my hair. "I will."

My phone started ringing. I ran to the counter, pulling my bag off the top of my dress, and grabbed my phone.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Dude." It was Ia.

Len and Erik stared at me as I talked. "Uh, what's up?"

"Have you been on Twitter in the past five minutes?" She asked. Her voice was shaky.

"Um, no."

"There's gonna be a new Vocaloid."

My eyes widened. I looked at Erik. "New… Vocaloid?" I thought they weren't supposed to know yet, but Erik grinned. He held up his phone. On it was the trending page. The top trend read "Vocaloid Manager Announces New Artist."

My mouth dropped. _I_ was the top trend on Twitter. _Me._

"I know!" Ia yelled through the phone, bringing me back from my thoughts.

"Wh-who is it?" I asked.

"They haven't announced it yet. The guy's tweet said they were gonna announce it at the concert next week." I heard shuffling in the background.

"The guy?"

"Their manager," she stated. "He tweeted it, like, five minutes ago."

I nodded, forgetting that she couldn't see me. "Yeah, uh, dude… I gotta go. I'm kinda busy."

"Alright," she responded. "I'll buy us tickets for the concert."

I shook my head. "You don't have to do that."

She paused. "Are you kidding? We _have_ to go."

I smiled nervously. This was a lot harder than I thought. "We'll go," I assured her. "But I can't talk now."

"Okay. Call me when you can," she said cheerfully.

"Will do," I hung up, and my gaze fell on Erik. "You got me trending on Twitter?"

His grin hadn't disappeared. "You're famous, and no one knows about it."

Len sighed, interrupting us. "Can I change back into my old clothes now?"

"Go for it- both of you. Just keep the outfits looking nice and pretty for the show next weekend. I'll see you guys then." Erik turned back to the desk, chatting with the receptionist.

The two of us changed back into our clothes, packed our new outfits in the box, and exited out the back door. I set my paperwork in my lap as I plopped into Len's car. It was tons of pages filled with fine print, with lines everywhere reading "Sign here," or "Initial here." I sighed, looking out the window as the two of us drove home in silence.

 _Dear God that chapter took me forever to write. I believe it's the longest one so far, too. We also had our first song in a while!_

 _Miku's Rolling Girl -_ _watch?v=T8WCE00OuZo_

 _By the way, all links that I post will be YouTube videos, unless I say otherwise._

 _Thanks for Reading! :)_


	7. Chapter 7

_A little early present this week. Enjoy :)_

Chapter 7

"'Discussing company affairs on any social media, or to any other person is prohibited," I read aloud. "The hell?"

"They have to say that," Len explained over the clanking of dishes in the kitchen. "They don't really mean any of that stuff."

I picked my pen up off the couch next to me. "You guys post stuff about the company all the time on Twitter."

"Exactly. They don't care."

My shoulder slumped. "Then why do I have to sign this shit?" The stack of papers was heavy in my lap.

"We all had to do it." A clanking noise sounded as Len loaded the dishwasher. "And it's the only paperwork you'll ever have to do."

I scratched my forehead with the butt of my pen. "Yeah, I guess." Our new outfits sat in the box on a step next to me. I glanced at them every once in a while, my mind still racing from the fact that I was officially part of the family. At least, according to Erik I was.

I heard Len close the dishwasher. He walked down to the couch, and plopped down next to me.

"Hey-" I complained as he knocked my signature across the page. I frowned at the long line of pen I had drawn over the fine print.

"Shit," he said, looking over it. "Sorry."

"Ah, whatever," I dropped my hand on the papers, looking over my distorted signature. "They don't care."

"Anyways," he said, stretching his arms. "We need to get writing."

I took a deep breath. "I don't know if I can do it." I set the half-finished paperwork on the couch. "I'm all out of ideas."

He shrugged. "We're gonna have to come up with something."

I bit my cheek, brainstorming. "Well… what kind of instruments should we use?" My mind was drawing a huge blank. I couldn't even remember how Miku and I had started writing Rolling Girl yesterday.

Len rubbed his forehead. "I dunno."

I shot him an irritated look. "You gotta help me out here. 'I dunno' isn't gonna work."

He held his hands up defensively. "I have just as many ideas as you do."

"So… none?"

"Yup."

I let out a quick breath of annoyance. "Well… do you want to start with the lyrics or th-"

I was cut off by the sound of our front door opening. The two of us looked up at the fireplace, waiting to see who would come out from behind it. Gumi skipped into our view, and planted both feet on the floor when she saw us.

"Well, well, well," she exclaimed loudly. "What do we have here?"

Len rolled his eyes. "We have to brain dead people who are trying- and failing -to write a song."

Gumi shook his head, her hands on her hips. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. What a shame." She suddenly perked up, her movements comical and overdramatic. "Rin needs to come write with me anyway."

I laughed. "Um, what?"

She pointed at me. "Me and you are gonna write the _best_ thing to ever bless the ears of the human race."

"We're kind of busy here," Len interrupted, sitting up.

She waved a hand at him, dismissing him. "This is important."

"Gumi, _we're_ actually…" Len searched for his words. "... _business partners._ I would say this is more important."

"No," Gumi pleaded, putting her hands together as if she were praying. "You don't understand."

Len raised his eyebrows. "Then explain."

Gumi sighed, her hands falling to her sides. She hung her head down, defeated, for a moment, before looking back up at us. "Miku bet me twenty bucks that Rolling Girl is gonna sell more copies on iTunes than whatever me and Rin write," she explained.

Len and I chuckled. "Twenty bucks?" He asked.

Gumi's expression hardened. "It's not about the twenty bucks, Len. It's about my pride." She balled her fists, bringing them up to her chest. "My _dignity._ My credibility as an artist."

We laughed again. "Uh, huh." Len nodded.

Gumi's hands returned to her hips. She had a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Not enough Rin to go around."

I felt a slight blush rise to my cheeks. "I guess so."

Gumi leaned against the fireplace, crossing her arms. "So, writer's block, huh?"

Len nodded. "Yeah. We don't even know where to start."

She stared at us for a moment. I could see the gears turning underneath her leafy hair. Her expression turned mischievous. "I dare you guys to write a love song."

"Psh," Len rolled his eyes. "What would we get out of it?"

Gumi raised her eyebrows. "Twenty bucks." She smiled slyly. "And _love._ "

I laughed, covering my face with my hand. I prayed that they wouldn't see my blush.

Len nodded. "You're on."

She stood up tall. "Really Len? _Twenty bucks?_ " Her tone was mocking.

He matched her sarcasm. "It isn't about the twenty bucks, Gumi. It's about my pride. My _honor."_

"Hah!" Gumi yelled, pointing a finger at him. "I said dignity, dumbass."

"Oh my god, Gumi, get out." He countered jokingly.

I laughed through the conversation, only removing my hand when I knew for sure my face had returned to normal color.

She glanced at me, her eyes shiny from tears of laughter. "Tomorrow?"

I shrugged. "I'll try. I can only handle so much."

She nodded. "Makes sense. I guess I'll talk to you guys later, then." She grinned. "And just for the record," she pointed at both of us. "I ship it." She disappeared behind the fireplace, and we heard the door shut.

I laughed. "At least we know it's gonna be a love song."

He leaned back and crossed his arms as he thought. "Now we just need to figure out everything else."

I cocked my head to the side. "What do you do to get inspired?"

"I wait until I think of something."  
My brow furrowed. "But that could take forever, and we only have until Saturday."

He sighed. "I know. What about you?"

"I like to go places."

"Go places?"

"Yeah." I smiled. "Like… to the mall, or the coffee shop, or the museum. Anywhere, really."

Len thought for a moment. "I mean…" he rubbed the back of his neck. "I would say we could go somewhere, but... it might not be a good idea."

"Why not?"

"What if someone sees us? The press will be all over it. Especially when they know there's a new Vocal coming out."

He had a point. "How did you walk around town the day you gave me the tickets?" I asked. I was unprepared for the uncomfortable look that darkened his face; I guess he didn't want to think about that day.

"I just, uh… I just kept my head low and walked fast. It's not that hard. But going out with you… It's too risky." He didn't look at me as he answered.

I sighed, looking down at the soft fabric of the couch. And idea came to me. "Maybe… Do you have any disguises?"

He let out a small laugh. "Disguises?"

"Yeah," I said, suddenly feeling timid. His laughing at me made me feel dumb.

"Like what?"

I shrugged, afraid to say any more.

After a pause, his expression softened. "Fuck it, let's just go. If they recognize us; so what?" He stood up, jumping up the steps. He entered his room, and reappeared a moment later with a hat and a pair of sunglasses in his hands. "We just need to get you some of these."

I stood up with him, brushing the wrinkles out of my dress. "But… as long as they don't recognize you, it shouldn't be a problem if they recognize me," I pointed out. It was partially true, but I also wasn't much of a hat person.

"True." He walked over to the front door. "You ready?"

"Uhm-" I yanked my bag off the floor and fit my newly found white bow in my hair. I liked it better than the red one from earlier, anyway. "Yeah." I slung the bag over my shoulder. "Where we goin'?"

He shrugged, pushing the hat down onto his head. "I hoped you had a place in mind."

My feet carried me over to the front door, next to him. "I… I dunno."

Len grinned. "You gotta help me out here," he teased. "'I dunno' isn't gonna work."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Whatever."

"Come on," he held the door open for me, and followed me into the hall. "The first place that comes to your mind."

I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. We began to descend the staircase.

"Anywhere," he urged.

A place popped in my head, but I held my breath. "You're gonna think it's dumb," I said aloud.

He shook his head. "I'm all ears." We walked down the rest of the stairs in silence as I mentally debated whether to suggest it or not. I had no idea how this place would inspire us to write a song, but you never know.

We reached the garage, and strode past all the cars to Len's. It was parked in the same spot as last time; I assumed they all had their own spaces.

"Well?" He asked as he stopped and turned to me. "Where we goin'?"

I grabbed the strap of my bag nervously, suddenly taking interest in the tires of Len's car. I didn't look at him. "I dunno," I said sheepishly.

He took a deep breath, staring at me. He didn't say anything.

The weight of his gaze eventually broke me. "The zoo," I said shamefully, an embarrassed smile creeping up my face, bringing with it a distinct blush. "I was thinking about going to the zoo."

After a pause, he smiled. "What's wrong with the zoo?"

I shrugged. My knuckles were turning white from clutching the strap of my bag. "It's… childish."

He chuckled. "Are you kidding?" He strutted to the driver's side and pulled the door up. "Lions are cool as fuck."

I smiled, still shy, and sat in the passengers seat. I set my bag on my lap, fumbling for my wallet. "How much do the tickets cost?"

"Hah, you're funny." Was his answer.

I put my wallet away.

Around half an hour later, the car finally found a parking spot in the crowded parking lot of the zoo. Len turned the car off, shoved the keys in his pockets, and slid his sunglasses on. He looked a little strange with both a hat _and_ sunglasses, but I guess it was better than getting caught.

We walked through the lot. He rested his hands in his pockets, and I held my bag with mine. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and I could already feel the intense heat on my bare arms. I couldn't imagine how Len felt in long pants and a long sleeve shirt; I was dying in a dress.

"So, why the zoo?" He asked, interrupting my thoughts.

"I used to love coming here as a kid," I explained. "I haven't been here in so long." We came to the front entrance. The line for the ticket booth was empty.

"Why not?" He pulled his wallet out of his pocket.

I looked down. "My parents couldn't really afford to take me out anymore."

He paused. "Oh," he replied, obviously not knowing how to respond. Especially with his bursting wallet in his hands.

I smiled, trying to brighten the suddenly dark mood. "Let's go get tickets."

We bought our passes - $36, for the record - and went inside. The place was packed. I should have expected it, considering it was a Friday afternoon with great weather. I didn't know whether it was a good thing or bad thing for Len; I figured the more people there were the harder it would be for him to be picked out, but at the same time… If he _were_ caught, we'd both be fucked.

"Where to?" He kept his head down. He looked just like he did that day at the coffee shop.

"You said you liked lions," I suggested. We stood right in front of the entrance, trying to stay out of the crowd.

"Yeah… but we're here for song inspiration, remember?" He had an amused smile under his chin-length hair.

"Who knows, maybe we can write a love song about lions," I declared, my voice overflowing with sarcasm. "Have you _ever_ seen The Lion King?"

He chuckled. "Alright, alright. Let's go check out the lions."

So we did. Their habitat was right at the beginning, right in front of us. We waded through the crowd, leaning against the glass railing. They were sleeping, however, and it wasn't very inspiring to watch a sleeping animal, so we moved on. The more we traveled, the more disappointed I became. I remembered the zoo being a magical place as a child, and I had loved seeing all the animals. But now… now they just looked sad. Locked in those cages…

The main path of the zoo went in a circle around the whole property, and we had made it about three fourths of the way around when I couldn't take it anymore. This wasn't inspiring, this was depressing.

Len eventually seemed to catch on. "You okay?" He asked as we rounded the giraffe pen.

I sighed. "They look so sad."

Len put a hand on the railing to the giraffe pen, looking at them. He nodded, but didn't say anything.

I looked around. We had been here for quite a while and no one had noticed us yet. Part of me was surprised.

"Do you just wanna go home?" He asked.

My eye caught on a building with a sign over it that read "Reptile House." I perked up slightly, and grabbed Len's sleeve. "Let's go in there," I suggested, pulling at him. He turned in the direction I was looking, and nodded. We trotted down the sidewalk and into the exhibit.

The relief from the hot sun was the first thing to hit me as we walked in. The second was the tropical smell. I breathed it in deeply, and let out slowly. For the first time since we arrived, I smiled.

"Look at that!" I yelled, feeling like a little kid. There was a statue of a snake whose body was thicker than my arm right in front of the entrance. It was wrapped around a pedestal. "I remember this," I said, my eyes full of wonder. "Last time I saw it, it was taller than me." I giggled, petting it's head.

Len shivered. "Snakes scare the shit out of me." He took his sunglasses off. It was dark enough in here anyway.

"Come on," I said, waving for him to follow me. We walked side-by-side down the path. As he passed the snake statue, I playfully jabbed him the side.

"Agh!" he jumped away from the statue, and I erupted into a fit of laughter. "Not funny," he shot me a serious look, but I could hear the humor in his voice. "Not funny at all."

I kept laughing until we went through the first set of doors. The seconds room was a long hallway of glass windows. We scanned each one, looking at everything from snakes, to frogs, to fish. We didn't run into nearly as many people as outside, which I found odd. I had expected to see more people inside sheltering from the blazing heat. Each room seemed more interesting than the last.

We entered the final room of the building. It was much smaller than the other ones, with a single, thin gravel path leading between two small forest areas. The ceiling was tall and made of a milky glass, and the trees planted on either side of the path could nearly reach it. The only thing separating the path from the habitat was a lining of small stones along the edges of the gravel. No rail, no glass wall. On the right there was a little pond. I could hear frogs. I could also hear the singing of birds in the trees. There were no other people in the room, which made it even more magical.

"Wow," I whispered, looking around the room in awe. "This is kinda cool." My voice echoed.

"Yeah," Len agreed, not bothering to keep his head down.

My eyes scanned the room. I looked through the trees, trying to find the birds, when I noticed a butterfly flutter out from behind it. "Look," I said softly, pointing at it. I watched it beat it's wings as if I were in a trance. I had never seen anything like it. It's wings were a bright shade of violet with black lines running across them in patterns. I didn't even know butterflies could _be_ purple.

My arm fell back to my side. The insect flew closer to me, and I held my breath, not wanting to disturb it. From the corner of my eye, I could see Len watching me intently.

I stood completely still as the butterfly's wings fluttered inches away from my nose. It floated in circles around me for a few seconds, then settled softly onto my right shoulder.

I looked at Len, my eyes wide. _Oh my god,_ I mouthed to him, not wanting to speak for fear of scaring it. He grinned as I focused my gaze back at the butterfly, watching it incredulously as it opened a closed it's wings slowly on my shoulder.

Taking a quiet, deep breath, I spoke. "Hi there, little guy," I whispered. It continued opening and closing its wings. My shoulders rose and fell as I breathed, and the butterfly rode along with it, unmoving. After a moment of beautiful silence, I spoke again. "I think we can write a love song about butterflies," I suggested. "Unless you're still set on the lions."

A few days later, I was in the soundbooth again. But this time, there were two mics in the live room, and while I stood at one, Len stood at the other. The only people in the control room tonight were Gumi and Erik. Len had insisted on not having the others come see the recording, except Gumi. We were going to need our twenty bucks.

For some reason, all it had taken was a simple butterfly for us to come up with one of my favorite songs I've ever written. We hadn't completed it all in one day like I had with Miku, but I personally liked this one better, though I might have been a little biased.

It felt strange to be in the booth with someone. I couldn't close my eyes while singing this time, so I instead stared down at the mic.

Erik gave us the normal thumbs up, and I held the sides of headphones nervously. I looked over at Len, who was close enough for me to get a breathful of cologne. He raised his eyebrows, flashing a thumbs up like Erik and smiling. In the control room, Gumi had her hands together in the shape of a heart.

Erik held up three fingers, and counted them down.

Three…

Two…

One…

" _Migikata ni murasaki choochoo…_

" _Kisu o shita kono heya no sumi de.."_

I started singing the intro, very aware of Len next to me. I was thankful when the rest of the music kicked in along with his part; I felt awkward singing by myself in a booth with two people. In my headphones I could hear him singing as if I was outside, listening in. The presence of another person in the room made me unable to get to the perfect mental state for singing. It was too distracting.

I was even more thankful when the music cut out, and we were finished. I hung my headphones, eager to get them off. I don't know why, but it was too uncomfortable in there.

"I think what we're gonna do," Erik informed us as we came back into the control room. "Is make Rin's singing a bit quieter - you know, more in the background - and put it up on YouTube tonight."

"T-tonight?" I stammered, sitting on the couch for the first time. Gumi and Len sat in the two chairs at the control panel.

Erik nodded. "It'll be like a little teaser, if you will. We'll make you a little quieter 'cuz we don't want to give them _too_ much info about you." He smirked. "But we'll let them know you're Len's partner."

Gumi held up her hands, signaling quotation marks. "I think you mean 'Business Partner,'" she interrupted. She giggled at Len, who rolled his eyes for the hundredth time today.

I took a deep breath, ignoring them. "Wow."

"I'll get some producers to throw a little lyric video together really fast. It should be up by midnight," he continued, which was pretty impressive, considering it was already pretty late into the night.

Gumi sat in her chair with her legs crossed, her posture perfect. She smiled, pulling out her wallet. "Worth it," she said as she pulled out two twenties. She handed one to Len, and threw the other at me. It fluttered helplessly in the air before falling on the couch. I snatched it, and tucked it away in my bag. "After watching _that_ ," she nodded towards the live room. "I ship it even more." She held up the heart again.

Len sighed, looking away from her with a grin. I did the same.

Erik shook his head, a smile forming around his now-prominent stubble. "Twenty bucks," he muttered. "Anyway," he looked back at me. "Do you have your paperwork finished?"

"Oh, yeah. I left it in Len's car." I stood up. Len dug his keys out of his pocket and threw them to me.

I fetched the paperwork, turning in the impressive stack to Erik. He accepted it.

"Well," Gumi started, standing up as I handed him the files. "I'm turning in for the night." She waved, turned toward the door. "Night guys."

"Night," Erik, Len, and I said in unison.

Erik nodded, holding the papers in one hand. "This is awesome," he said after a pause. He wore a smile that made his eyes sparkle. "I don't know how else to say it. _This-_ " he made a circular motion- "Is all awesome." He turned toward me. "I'm really glad we found you, kid."

I beamed. "Thank you."

"No," he countered. "Thank _you._ " He walked down the hall to the front desk. "Good shit, guys," he added, before disappearing behind the door.

Len stood. "I hate it when he gets all emotional," he added quietly, an amused look on his face. I noted for the first time that he never smiled very big. I had never seen him smile wide enough to show his teeth, or smile sincere enough for it to reach his eyes.

My blonde "business partner" walked past me to the back door. I followed him out into the cold, handing him his keys.

The sounds of the cars speeding past us on the road seemed especially loud tonight. "You know," he began as we both sat. "We make a pretty good team."

I laughed. "Yeah." I agreed. "We do."

 _Cheesy, I know, but you had to have seen it coming._

 _Rin and Len's "Butterfly On Your Right Shoulder" -_ _watch?v=6GU-v2K0C4_

 _Thanks again for reading :)_


	8. Chapter 8

_I've realized that I inconsistently put "Chapter Whatever" at the top of some when I write them. I'll try to stop doing that._

 _Enjoy :)_

I woke up the next morning to my phone ringing. It was only a text, but it was enough to get me to roll over and grab my phone off the floor. I silently wished I had a table to set it on as I squinted my eyes against the harsh light of the screen. A text from Erik. At six in the morning.

 _You see it yet?_ The text read. I widened my eyes, tears forming in protest. I quickly sat up, unlocking my phone and clicking on my YouTube app. My thumb hovered over the touch screen, shaking slightly. The app opened, and under _New Music This Week_ was a lyric video that caught my tired eyes.

 _Len Kagamine - Butterfly on Your Right Shoulder ft. ?_

I quickly tapped on the video, my trembling fingers nearly missing it. The description of the video read _A little teaser._ I figured that Erik himself had wrote it. Come to think of it, he probably uploaded it, too.

The volume on my phone was as high as it could be, and the sound of the intro nearly made me jump. It was me. _Me._ Singing the intro. _Me._ It was much quieter than I had imagined, but I could understand why. We had to leave _some_ of me to the imagination. But it was me. And it was so clearly me.

A frightening thought came to me. Ia was sure to hear this. Would she recognize me?

I pushed the thought out of my head. I didn't have room in it for negative thoughts right now.

Len's part kicked in, and an involuntary grin crept across my face. The video already had a million views. Overnight. It had over forty thousand likes. And a few thousand dislikes, but that was nothing. My heart began pounding. I was famous. But at the same time, nobody knew who I was. They just knew my voice.

As I scrolled through the comments, my smile slowly faded. Many of them simply said that they were excited to find out who I was, while others were predictions, criticisms, or even outright hate messages. They explained that Vocaloids were "dead" and bringing a new one to the public wouldn't save them. Others argued that I _would_ "save" them.

Jeez. No pressure or anything.

I texted Erik back. _One million views?!_

I layed back on my pillow, my phone slipping out of my hand back onto the floor. I stared at the ceiling, trying to comprehend that this was actually real now. It was official. I was a Vocal. A celebrity. An artist. A Kim Kardashian or a Rihanna or a Beyonce, but with less sex appeal.

I sighed. There was no way I was going back to sleep now, no matter how tired I was. Len and I had come home from the studio exhausted last night, and we both went straight to our rooms and passed out. At least, I had. I assumed Len did the same.

I forced myself out of bed. I had had the time to change out of my in-public outfit, and into some fluffy pajama pants and a plain t-shirt before falling asleep. Thank God; I was tired of sleeping in my dresses.

The apartment was quiet. Len was still asleep, which was no surprise. In fact, I would have been more surprised to see him conscious.

I sat on the couch, planning to watch some T.V. until he woke up, but instead reaching for my phone. The internet was crawling with theories about the new Vocal, and I was determined to find and read them all. I wondered if maybe someone saw Len and I leaving the studio last night, and snapped a few pictures of us. Or maybe they recognized us at the zoo. I was sure there had to be some sort of clue for them to figure out who I was. But the longer I searched, the more my theory was disproven. There was nothing on the internet anywhere about anything hinting to me, except the YouTube video, of course.

As I scoured Twitter for evidence, I considered tweeting out something along the lines of _lol it's me_ and just waiting for people to figure out what it means. I giggled. As soon as my name is revealed, I'll probably get a ton of followers on Twitter, Instagram, friend requests on Facebook, and all the other social media sites I never used anymore. I smiled as I imagined someone trying to "connect" with me on MySpace.

I was on my hunt much longer than I imagined, because the next thing I knew, Len's door opened, and he stepped out in his usual sleepwear. In the days that we'd lived together, he'd switched between the same two outfits for pajamas.

"Morning," he greeted, yawning.

"Morning," I responded, not looking up from my phone. I glanced at the top of my screen. I had been digging through the internet for almost three hours already. "Have you seen this?"

He walked to the kitchen. I heard the sound of the fridge opening. "Seen what?"

"The internet is going crazy." I continued scrolling through my Twitter feed.

"Crazy about what?" Rustling sounded from inside the fridge.

I furrowed my brow in frustration, even though I knew he couldn't see me. "The video. Erik posted Butterfly on Your Right Shoulder last night, remember?"

Len let out a breath of defeat, clearly not finding what he was looking for, and closed the fridge. "Oh yeah? How many views did it get?" He opened a cabinet.

"A million."

The cabinet was suddenly slammed shut. "What?"

I turned my head to look at him, the noise startling me. "It got a milli-"

He held out a hand, shushing me. "I heard you." He paused, his arm falling back to it's side. "And he posted it _last night_?"

I nodded slowly. "Yeah."

"Jesus." He turned away from me again, resuming his kitchen raid. "That many people heard about it overnight?"

I returned to my normal sitting position as well. "I guess."

Len didn't reply. Only the rhythmic sound of opening and closing cabinets sounded in the room.

After a few minutes, I set my phone down, annoyed. "The hell are you looking for?" I asked, rising from the couch.

"Breakfast." He'd rotated back to the fridge.

I rolled my eyes, stepping onto the tiled floor. I looked over his shoulder at the contents, and frowned. "It's literally filled to the brim with food."

Len leaned back, meeting my irritated gaze. "But I don't know what I want. And I'm not a very good cook."

I pushed past him, reaching into the fridge. "I'll cook something." I grabbed some eggs, milk, and a stick of butter. I set the ingredients down on the counter, and added a loaf of bread from the cabinet above me. "How does french toast sound?"

He patted his stomach. "I haven't had french toast in forever."

I smiled. "My mom taught me how to make _everything_."

"Are you my business partner, or my personal chef?" he asked as he sat on a stool.

I rolled my eyes again, pulling out the rest of my cooking supplies. "You _did_ have to teach me how to use a stove, so I don't think I'm at the 'Personal Chef' status yet."

He smiled, letting out a laugh.

I turned on the stove, and set a pan over the corresponding heater. "Do you want all of your pieces at once, or do you want them as I make them?"

"As you make them. I'm _starving._ "

I nodded. "How many do you want?"

He thought for a moment. "I dunno. Three?"

"Three it is."

I cracked the eggs into a bowl, thinking of the last time I made french toast with my mom. One of our favorite bonding activities was cooking together. When I was a kid, I had always liked making sweets more, just because I would always sneak tastes of the uncooked batter. Mom would never let me eat it; she claimed it would get me sick. But ten years of secretly dipping a finger in the sweet batter later, I was perfectly healthy.

I smiled as I mixed the eggs together. I briefly wondered if any of them would give me salmonella if I were to mix them into brownie batter and lick the spoon.

When the first piece of toast was done, I pulled the syrup out of the cabinet, setting it next to Len along with the plate containing his breakfast. The second I set it down he began digging into it. I grinned. Nothing was more flattering than people liking your french toast.

"Seriously though," he spoke as I turned back to cook the next piece. "This is really fucking good." He spoke with his mouth full.

I laughed. "You're making me lose my appetite. Tell me how good it is when you actually finish eating it."

When I was done cooking, I carried my stacked plate down the couch. Len had one remaining piece, which he was finished with before I had even found something to watch on cable. After placing his empty plate in the sink, he disappeared back into his room. My eyes were glued to the T.V. screen, so I didn't see him come back out until he dropped on the couch next to me. While I had a plate of breakfast in my lap, he had a guitar. My eyes widened as they scanned the chestnut colored wood. The body was thin, and I could tell it was an electric. There were small circles cut into the instrument, showing the inside of the body. They were arranged in beautiful patterns. The strings were so brilliantly white they were almost transparent, and the frets themselves were labeled with small white dots. The head was made of the same dark wood as the body.

"Whoa," I commented, my mouth full of french toast.

Len grinned, plucking some of the strings. "She's my favorite."

I swallowed my food. "She?"

"Yup." He played a chord. It was so quiet I could barely hear it.

"Why is it- she, a girl?"

Len took a deep breath. "Well, you know how you finger chords on a guitar?"

I stared at him blankly until the joke hit me. "Oh my god, stop."

"I'm just saying," he continued, a confident smile on his face. "I can't finger something with a guy's name-"

I laughed, cutting him off. "I am eating, and you're being disgusting."

He nodded, his grin still present. After a moment's pause, he chuckled. "Her name's Emma."

I rolled my eyes. "Do I even want to know why?"

"When I got her, I had this _huge_ crush on Emma Watson," he explained.

I pointed at my face, which was stuffed with food. "Again, eating." My speech was muffled.

"Ew, now _you're_ being disgusting," he commented jokingly.

I laughed, covering my mouth.

When we both settled down, he went on plucking his guitar and I continued sneaking glances at it. It reminded me a bit of my old guitar. Waves of nostalgia rolled over me as I stood to put my plate in the sink with Len's. I missed my guitar. I hadn't even picked up an instrument since I got rid of it.

As I sat back on the couch, Len held out his guitar. "You wanna try her?" He asked.

I shook my head. "I'm okay. I don't wanna break her or anything."

He nudged it toward me. "There's nothing you can do to her sitting on this couch that I haven't done to her on stage," he pointed out. "I've dropped her more times than I can count. And I know you want to try her out."

I looked over the beautiful instrument in front of me. "Alright," I gave in, gently grabbing the guitar. I set it down in my lap, my right arm hanging over the body and my left gripping the neck. I pressed down on the strings, strumming softly.

Len watched me. "You ever play?"

I shrugged. "I used to all the time. But we had to sell my guitar."

"That sucks."

The strings felt rubbery under my fingertips. "Yeah, it does."

We sat like that for a while. I plucked different riffs on the guitar, my knowledge of how to play slowly coming back to me. I was never an expert, but I knew enough to write Chronophobia and the rest of the songs in my binder. I payed little attention to whatever Len was watching on cable as I reminisced.

I managed to keep myself entertained until the front door opened. I knew it was Gumi even before she strutted past the fireplace.

"You guys should really lock your door." The green haired girl sat on one of the steps leading down to the couch.

"Too much work," Len responded. He was obviously accustomed to Gumi barging in like this, though I wasn't sure I was.

"Rin, are you all written out yet?" She eyed me, resting her hands on her bare knees. She wore black shorts and a loose-fitting sweatshirt.

I shrugged, still looking down at the guitar.

"I see Len's introduced you to his sex toy," she grinned.

I lifted both hands off the guitar. "Um, what?"

Len rolled his eyes. "No, no. She doesn't mean it like that."

Gumi leaned back, laughing at my flustered expression. "He loves that thing more than any person on this planet. It might as well be."

Len chuckled. I hesitantly returned my hands to the strings.

"Anyway," the blonde boy stood up. "I'm gonna go hang with the guys. Give you girls some private time."

Gumi raised her eyebrows, her suddenly mischievous eyes staring at me. "Oh yes. _Private time._ "

He sighed. "Just don't get anything on my couch."

I chuckled. "I don't even want to know what you're implying."

He flashed both of us a smile before pulling his phone out of his pocket and exiting.

Gumi tilted her head to the side. "So I've been thinking about the lyrics to our song…"

I sighed, half listening to her, and half not. The guitar held most of my attention for the next three hours.

She had a surprising amount of the song already written. In only an hour or two, we were completely done with the lyrics. Now, we just needed them to match some sort of music.

She had moved from the steps, and was now sitting across from me with her legs crossed and a bundle of notes in her lap. "I think it would sound good with like a techno-ish, dubstep kinda sound."

I bit the inside of my cheek. I've never liked dubstep. "What about guitar?"

Gumi furrowed her brow. "Why?"

I shrugged, plucking the lowest string on Emma. "If we had a lower guitar playing while we're singing, it would sound better with the higher notes."

She nodded, still unsure. "I guess we could try that." She began to gather up her papers. "I'll mess around with it at the studio, and I'll let you know when I have some rough drafts."

For the first time since Len handed it to me, I set the guitar down on the couch. "Sounds good."

Gumi hugged the papers to her chest. This was probably the calmest I had ever seen her. I stood up with her, and walked with her to the door.

"You all packed?" she asked.

"Packed for what?"

"For the concert. We always go get a hotel in town the night before."

I shook my head. "Dammit. I don't have any bags to pack anything in."

Gumi set her papers down on a table next to the front door. "Show me what you wanna pack and I'll go grab some bags for y-" She was interrupted by the door opening into her back. "-Hey!"

Len poked his head in as Gumi moved out of the way. "Sorry," he said. "Didn't expect you guys to be standing _right in the way of the front door_."

Gumi shrugged. "Why didn't you tell Rin about the hotel?"

Len narrowed his eyes. "We're doing that this year?"

She crossed her arms. "According to Miku and Erik we are."

"Shit. I need to pack."

"Do you have bags I could use?" I asked him.

"Depends on how much stuff you have."

Gumi put her hands together. "I wanna see your closet, Rin. Come on," she started off toward my room.

I remembered my embarrassing living standards just as she gripped the doorknob. "Wait-"

She pushed the door open, and I followed her inside, with Len at my heels. I began to fidget with my hands as Gumi scanned my empty room.

"This… This is sad. Like I'm actually about to cry." She wasn't light on her criticisms.

"Is this really all you have?" Len asked behind me.

I shrugged. "Y-yeah."

Gumi's expression suddenly turned to one of anger. She stomped over to Len, hitting him on the shoulder.

"Ow!-"

"You haven't even taken her shopping yet?" She yelled at him. I snickered. "I bet her closet is even worse!" She turned away from him, throwing open the doors. "See?"

"You really don't need to take me shopping-" I protested, but it was no use.

Gumi put her hands on her hips. "Come on. A girl with _your_ body should wear a lot more than sundresses."

"Gumi-" I began, ignoring the comment. "Really, this is all I need."

"No, no, no." She shook a finger at me and pulled two of my dresses out of my closet. "These two are pretty much the same." She grabbed a different pair. "So are these. Jesus, Rin. You don't even own any leggings?"

I shrugged. "I'm a jean person."

Len rubbed the nape of his neck like he always did when he was nervous. "Rin, I can take you shopping. I really don't mind."

Gumi grinned. "It's settled, then." She danced back into the living room.

I crossed my arms, and looked down at the floor guiltily. "You don't have to buy me anything." I spoke low enough for only Len to hear.

He chuckled, looking around my room. "No, I want to." I looked up at him. "No offence," he continued. "But this _is_ pretty sad."

A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. "I think it's fine."

"Maybe for a two bedroom apartment."

I grinned. "Isn't this a two bedroom apartment?"

"I like to think of it as more of a penthouse," he explained, trying to bring me out of the embarrassing situation Gumi dragged me into.

"Whatever," I giggled as we walked back into the living room.

Gumi was gathering her notes by the front door. She gave us one more energetic smile. "I'm gonna head to the studio in the morning. I'll text you, Rin."

I nodded. "Okay"

She opened the door, exiting into the hallway. We could hear her footsteps padding down the hall until she reached the stairs.

As soon as she was gone, I bounded back down to the couch, settling into the same spot I was in before she arrived, and pulling Len's guitar back into my arms.

I heard him laugh behind me. "You act like you've never seen a guitar before." He sat next to me.

I resumed my strumming. "I just miss it."

He leaned back, stretching his legs out and crossing his arms. "Maybe we should go get you one."

"Why are you so intent on buying me shit?" It came out a lot harsher than I intended.

"I mean, I get that you didn't have a lot of stuff before all…" He motioned to the apartment. "- _this,_ but you can have pretty much anything you want now."

"No, I can't. Last time I checked, I don't have enough money to buy a guitar in my bank account." I slid my fingers along the strings.

"I have plenty of money to spare."

"I don't like owing people."

He let out a laugh. "Consider it payment for cooking me food every day."

I shook my head. "I don't know-"

He stood back up. "Come on. Let's go get you one."

My shoulders slumped. "Len-"

"No arguing." He held out a hand to help me up. "Come on."

I hesitated before pushing Len's guitar onto the couch once again, and taking his hand. He pulled me straight for the door. "Wait- Len! Can I at least change out of pajamas first?"

He looked at me, confused. He was still in his as well. "Why can't we go to Guitar Center in pajamas?" He didn't give me a chance to answer as he pulled me into the hall and down the stairs.

We reached the first floor just in time to see Luka coming out of her room. She was dressed in a sparkly black cocktail dress that hugged her figure tightly. She had a small chain bag draped over her shoulder.

She was staring down at her phone, but looked up from it when we appeared. "Where the hell are you guys going?" She asked us, confused.

Len returned her expression. "Where the hell are _you_ going?"

Her face flushed red. "I asked you first."

"Guitar Center." His tone was harsh.

Luka nodded, her straightened pink hair flowing with her every move. "Oh."

"Now, where are you going?"

She shrugged. "The club," she said sheepishly.

Len sighed. "Are y-"

Luka held up a hand impatiently. "I already got the speech from Miku. I'm a fucking grown up. I can do what I want." She pushed past Len and I. "Just leave me alone." She disappeared down the stairs leaving Len and I in the dust of her sudden outburst.

I glanced at Len. "What was that about?"

He shook his head. "Don't worry about it. Let's just go."

With the mood even darker than before, we entered the garage just in time to see Luka's headlights disappearing onto the road. Len watched them for a moment before unlocking the doors. We piled into his car, and he drove us out into the night.

We sat in silence. He drove us down the hill, and into the city. The brightly lit buildings shined through my window brilliantly. I watched them pass with awe. I didn't drive through the city often a night.

Len sighed, and I turned my attention away from the windows to him. "She used to have a drinking problem," he explained. "It was… It was pretty bad."

I looked solemnly down at my lap. "Oh."

He nodded. "We worry about her."

"That's good," I said before thinking.

"Uh, what?"

"I mean," I searched for my words, mentally scolding myself for sounding so rude. "It's not good that she's had that, uh… problem, but I think it's really cool how you guys look out for each other the way you do."

He thought for a moment. "Why wouldn't we?"

"I don't know. I just… I just think it's cool how close you guys are."

He shrugged, keeping his eyes on the road. "We're all we have."

"What about your families?" I saw something change in his expression.

He turned the car into the parking lot of a large building with the "Guitar Center" logo over the glass entrance. "None of us come from good families."

Now I felt even more awkward. I came from a great family.

He opened his door, finding no need for a response. I followed him, smoothing out the wrinkles in my shirt. I still felt uncomfortably underdressed. I noticed that Len didn't even bother putting on any hats or sunglasses, which I found odd.

He pushed open the doors into guitar heaven. The walls were covered in them; some hanging down, some on their sides, some in glass cases with padlocks on them. They were separated into two groups: electric and acoustic. The electrics hung on the wall to the far right, the acoustics on the left. Covering the floor between them was a huge supply of amps, pedals, guitar straps, and countless other accessories. I didn't know this much gear even existed.

Len made a beeline for the front desk. Behind it was a man who looked to be in his mid-forties with a shiny bald head and a bushy brown beard that reached the bottom of his neck. He was bent over a black, stringless guitar. He looked up at the sound of the door opening, and grinned.

"Lenny!" He exclaimed, holding out a hand. "What can I do for you?"

Len clasped his hand with the clerk's, shaking it firmly. He gestured to me. "This is Rin. She needs a guitar." His voice was still in it's lower, more serious tone.

The bald man seemed to notice, but ignored it. He turned his head to me. "So _you're_ the Rin I've been hearing so much about."

"Um… yeah," I replied. I stepped up to the glass counter, looking down at the display inside of it. A mosaic of guitar picks was spread out beneath the glass.

"Don't worry," he said, noticing my tense answer. "Erik told me everything. I'm Nick, by the way."

I nodded, gazing down at the picks. "Okay," I said, only half listening.

He chuckled. "What're you looking for?"

Len looked over at me. "Rin?"

"Huh? Oh I-I don't know," I looked up from the colorful picture below me.

"Well," Nick walked around the counter, leading Len and I away from the case. "Let's look around."  
I took a deep breath, still very uncomfortable with the fact that Len was willing to buy me something so expensive. Zoo tickets were one thing, but a guitar…

Len didn't seem bothered at all. "What brand was your last guitar?"

I shrugged. "I don't remember."

"Acoustic or electric?" Nick asked, looking over his shoulder at us.

"It was an acoustic. But I think-" I looked at the wall of shiny instruments. "I think I want an electric."

Then appeared Len's signature half smile. "Good choice."

We traversed through the city of speakers and amps to the wall dedicated to the electrics. I craned my neck trying to see the ones in the glass cases. They were at the very top of the wall, and contained guitars with crazy designs that I hadn't seen before.

"Any that catch your eye?" Nick asked. "We've got 'em all arranged by brand. The more expensive and imported guitars are toward the back, and the more common, inexpensive ones are toward the front."

Len automatically turned toward the back, scanning the wall. My shoulders slumped. Of course he would go for the expensive ones. I followed, my fingers intertwined behind my back.

"What about that one?" He pointed to a cherry red guitar with a jagged body. The price tag read eight hundred and fifty dollars.

I shrugged. "I dunno…" I trailed off, hoping that he would point out a less expensive one. I scanned the rest of the rack. Most of them were guitars with crazy colors. On the cheaper side of the store were the more natural-looking ones. An idea came to me. "I'm not a huge fan of the vibrant colors. I think the wooden ones look prettier." It wasn't completely a lie.

Nick nodded. "How about-" to my disdain, he walked all the way to the expensive end. "That one up there?" He pointed up. Len walked next to him, taking a few steps back, trying to get a better view. He grinned.

"Which one?" I asked.

"The one in the case. At the top," Len clarified.

My heart dropped. It was gorgeous.

"Gimmie a sec," Nick said excitedly. "I gotta go get the ladder and the keys." He walked through a door in the back wall.

"It's looks sick," Len commented. "I almost want to trade you."

I crossed my arms, looking down at the ground. "It's not mine yet."

That half-smile. " _Yet._ "

"Len…" I sighed. "Do you really have to get the most expensive one?"

He held up his hands defensively. "Hey, you're the one who said you liked the wooden ones."

"Yeah… but I meant _those_ wooden ones." I gestured toward the cheaper guitars.

A look of understanding came over him. "I see what you're trying to do."

I didn't say anything.

"Hey," he placed a hand on my shoulder, earning a slight jump from me in surprise. "It's not a big deal." His voice was softer.

"But it is," I argued.

"No," he insisted. "It's no-"

He was cut off by Nick reappearing through the door, a ladder under his arm and a keychain jangling from one of his belt buckles. He set the ladder upright under the guitar, and began to climb it. Len quickly walked over to it, grabbing it to keep it steady.

Nick fumbled through his keys. "You know, this one's been here for a _long_ time," he yelled down to us. "I've always been kinda scared of someone buying it, ya know? I always wanted to make sure it had a good home." He finally found the right key, and fit it into the small padlock. He lifted the glass case, and lifted the guitar. He carefully walked back down the ladder, eventually placing two feet on the carpet. The bald man turned to me, holding out the instrument to me. "I'm glad it could go to a Vocal."

"Whoa," I whispered. It was even more glorious up close. The body was a much lighter color than Emma's, and a bit smaller as well. The edges were outlined in a creamy white, while the front was a dark caramel that melted into a lighter one in the middle. The neck was dotted at the third, fifth, seventh, ninth, and twelfth frets. I grabbed the neck, half-afraid I would break it. Nick pulled out a small stool from under the guitars, and I sat on it, positioning my hands on the strings.

"You like it?" Len asked after I strummed a few chords.

I shrugged. I loved it, but I didn't want to let him know that. The price tag hung on one of the tuning pegs and I flipped it over, revealing the $2,875.00 price.

Len rolled his eyes at my action. "You love it." He read my mind.

"Jesus Christ, Len. It's three thousand dollars," I complained.

He looked over at Nick. "We'll take it."

I frowned.

"Alright, sweet," he replied, clapping his hands together. He then uttered the worst possible sentence he could have said. "You want anything else with it?"

And that's how we ended up driving home with a three thousand dollar guitar, a pack of seventy five guitar picks, an amp (that I wasn't sure the cost of) and a luxury guitar case. They all fit in the trunk of Len's car like Tetris pieces.

We pulled into the garage at 10:34 p.m. Len lugged the amp up to the first floor, because the elevator didn't reach the garage, and likely woke up the whole building doing it.

I held the guitar case in one hand with a shopping bag containing everything else in it draped over my shoulder. "Are you sure you don't want help?" I asked as we reached the landing halfway to the first floor. The amp was almost as tall as me, and was probably double my weight.

"Nah," he replied, slightly out of breath. "I'm alright."

I had a strong feeling he wasn't alright, but I didn't want to insult his masculinity or anything, so I let him be.

We finally reached the first floor, and Len set the amp down in front of the elevator. He took a deep breath as I pressed the button to call it. I noticed him glance toward Miku and Luka's door.

"I'm sure she's fine," I said gently. "I bet she's already home and asleep and everything."

His hands fell into his pockets. "I hope so."

The elevator ride to our floor was silent. The doors finally opened, revealing our front door, and Len took an exasperated breath before picking the heavy block back up. I held the door open for him into the apartment, glanced at Emma laying on the couch exactly where we left her, and then held the door into my room. He set it down against the wall in one of the empty sections, nearly dropping it. A loud _thump_ sounded through the building.

"Jesus Christ," Len panted. "That thing is fucking heavy."

I smiled, leaning my case against the wall next to it. "I said that I'd help you."

He took a deep breath, sitting on the edge of my bed. "If I couldn't carry that thing, then you couldn't carry that thing."

I dropped the bag next to the case and put my hands on my hips. "You callin' me weak?"

He grinned. "Eh."

"Whatever," I retorted, giggling.

He stood up. "Well I'm exhausted now. I'm gonna go to bed."

"Alright," I answered as he walked past me. "And thanks again."

He brushed me off, leaning against my door frame. "It's nothing."

My bedsheets were still piled on my bed, unmade. I grabbed them, draping the comforter around my shoulders as Len turned to exit.

He paused. "Uh, Rin?"

I cocked my head to the side, pulled the blanket closer around me. "Yeah?"

He rubbed the nape of his neck. "Thanks," he began awkwardly. "For what you said about Luka."

I felt a slight blush rise to my cheeks. His nervousness was infectious. "N-No problem."

He paused, glancing up at me. We held each other's gaze for a moment before he cleared his throat, and grabbed the door. "Night."

"Night."

He shut the door. As soon as he was gone, I dropped the blanket to the floor and ran over to the case, laying it flat on the floor and opening it. My new guitar rested inside. I pulled it out, leaning my back against the wall. I strumming it softly, humming the lyrics of Chronophobia to myself.

 _Hey guys! Sorry I'm so late this week, I've been super busy. But things are gonna start picking up in the next chapter, so I should be able to get back on schedule with writing it._

 _Thanks for reading :)_


	9. Chapter 9

_Guys, I am SO sorry this took so long to get out. I've had it done for a while, but my internet has been out and I haven't had access to a computer where I could upload it. I tried to upload it from my iPod, my tablet, everything, and it didn't work. But even though I haven't been uploading, I have been writing a TON, and I'm going to upload some short stories that I've written the next time I get the chance. This chapter is extra long, but I can't upload the short stories because I am currently uploading this from my friend's computer._

 _Thanks for reading!_

I sat on my knees on the floor of my room, trying to decide what to pack for the concert. A pair of duffle bags were open in front of me, empty. Len had let me borrow them, and I probably could have fit my entire wardrobe in both of them. The only thing I really _needed_ to bring was my signature outfit, but Len had taken the box and packed them both away with his stuff. We would also only be staying in the hotel for a night or two, so besides my stage outfit, I would only be wearing pajamas.

I decided on bringing one of my sun dresses, just in case, along with a pair of shorts, sweat pants, and two tank tops for sleeping in. I barely filled one of the bags, and I felt determined to bring at least one fully packed. I threw all of my bows in with it, along with all of my hair products and makeup. Almost halfway full.

I sighed, standing over the frustratingly empty bag. What else could I pack? I mean, what else could I _need?_ I didn't have many options.

 _Fuck it,_ I thought to myself before zipping the bag up, and carrying it into the living room. Len had already made a pile of bags near the front door. It contained one of his bags along with the guitar case that held Emma safely inside.

I set my bag in the pile just as Len walked out of his room.

"Not gonna bring yours?" He asked, motioning to the case as he dropped another bag.

I shook my head. "I'm afraid something'll happen to it." I did only get it yesterday.

"There's no point in having a guitar if you're not gonna use it," he pointed out.

I brushed my hair behind my ear. "I guess. But I'm not bringing anything else."

He chuckled. "There was no way in hell I'd carry that amp again anyway."

I smiled, staring down at my flat bag. "I only used one of the duffles."

"That's fine. I don't have a ton of room in my car anyway. The less stuff, the better."

I pointed down to his bag. "What all are you bringing?" I asked, trying to get ideas. I still hoped to fill the bag.

"Mostly stuff for the show. Cords for the amps and stuff."

I felt a pit beginning to form in my stomach. "Yeah. The show."

He gave me a concerned look. "You okay?"

"Yeah," I answered. He wasn't convinced.

"Nervous?"

I took a deep breath. "A little."

He nodded. "Your first shows the worst. It gets easier after it."

Our conversation was interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching our front door. We both paused, waiting for the door to open.

Miku poked her head through it. She seemed slightly surprised to see the both of us staring at her. "We're leaving tonight," she stated.

Len seemed taken aback. "Tonight?"

"Last minute change. Erik said he wanted to do a rehearsal."

"Rehearsal? Why do we need a rehearsal?"  
Miku nodded to me. "Gotta teach Rin how things roll."  
The pit was growing larger by the second. I felt like an inconvenience.  
Len nodded. "Alright. What time are we leaving?"  
She shrugged. "Anytime. The rooms are already booked. Luka and I are leaving as soon as we're packed."  
"The traffic is gonna be terrible," Len pointed out.  
"That's why we're in a hurry. The longer we wait, the worse it'll get." She gave a wave. "We'll text you directions. See ya."  
Len waved back before she shut the door, her steps exiting the same way they came.  
I hadn't realized that my breathing was getting heavier. "What are we gonna do?"  
He stared at the bags, thinking for a moment. "We should probably just leave later tonight," he began. "If we leave at, like, nine or something, we should be behind any traffic."  
I nodded. "O-okay." I looked down. "I gotta go make some phone calls."  
"Alright. I'll let you know when we're about to leave."  
I turned away from him, walking into my room and shutting the door behind me. My phone was sitting on my bed. I grabbed it with a shaky arm, and dialed my Mom's number.  
I didn't have to wait long for her to answer. "Hey honey," she greeted, her voice both excited and gentle.  
"Hey, ma."  
"What's up?"  
I sat on the edge of my bed. "Packing for the concert. We're leaving tonight."  
"Tonight? I thought the show wasn't until Saturday."  
"We're doing rehearsal tomorrow," I explained. "They have to 'show me how things roll.'"  
"When are you gonna be home?" I heard shuffling on her end. "Sorry, I'm at work right now."  
"It's fine. And Sunday. We're not staying long."  
"Well we should go to lunch or something," she suggested. "When you get back. And what about your birthday?"  
I shook my head even though I knew she couldn't see me. "I don't need anything for my birthday."  
She didn't buy it. "We'll go to dinner or something. You can invite Ia and all your new coworkers!"  
I smiled. "We could maybe do something like that. Speaking of Ia, did she come pick up her tickets?"  
"Sure did. She said she was going with some friends from school."  
I breathed a sigh of relief. "You didn't say anything, did you?"  
"Only that you already had yours and you were meeting her up there."  
I had the best Mom ever. "Sweet."  
She paused. "I'm sorry I can't go," she said. "I'll watch it on cable. Me and Dad both will."  
My stomach lurched. It was going to be on T.V. "Don't worry about it."  
"I can't wait." Her voice cracked.  
I didn't want her to start crying again. "I gotta go pack, Mom. I love you."  
"I love you too, Rinny."  
"I'll call you before I go on stage," I promised.  
"Alright."  
"Bye Momma."  
"Bye hun."  
I brought the phone away from my ear, staring at it. I hesitated before pressing the "End Call" button.  
Next, I dialed Ia's number. I had only texted her since the night I became a Vocal, and I decided I had to talk to her before this concert whether I liked it or not.  
"Yo," she answered. "Are you hyped, or are you hyped?"  
I laughed. "I'm pretty excited."  
"Where are we meeting?" She asked.  
"Our seats are right next to each other," I lied. "I'll be there."  
She sighed. "I still can't believe there's gonna be a new one. Did you hear Len's song with her?"  
I bit the inside of my cheek. "Uh, yeah. What'd you think of it?"  
She raised her voice excitedly. "What do you think I think of it? It's fucking amazing. She sounds so pretty."  
Thanks, I thought, a giddy smile stretching across my face. "Yeah, she does."  
"The Vocal's Twitter said that she and Len are gonna be a duo."  
"I heard." Before I could react, Len opened my door.  
"Hey, Rin-" he started before a quickly put a finger to my lips, shushing him.  
"Uh," I could hear the confusion in Ia's voice. "Who's that?"  
"It's-uh, it's the radio," I said quickly. "Len's on the radio."  
She laughed. "You think just because he tried to sleep with you that you're on a first name basis with him?"  
I sighed. My lies were just piling up at this point. "Yeah, sure," I answered sarcastically. Len must have heard her comment, because he stared down at the ground like a toddler in time out.  
Ia laughed. "Alright. Well I gotta call Ally and Clara. Gotta let them know that they're going to a concert with us."  
I had heard a lot about Ally and Clara, Ia's two best friends (other than me, of course) but I had never met them. "Okay. I'll talk to you later then."  
"See ya in two days."  
Deep breaths. "Two days."  
She hung up first. I dropped my phone on the bed.  
"Sorry. I didn't mean to barge in," Len apologized. "Nice save, though."  
I smiled. "I'm good under pressure."  
"Then the concert should be no problem for you," he said.  
I gulped. Maybe I wasn't so good under pressure.  
"Anyway, I just wanted to ask if you had any other bags. I'm packing the car up now so we don't have to do it later."  
"Just my guitar," I pointed over to the caramel beauty laying on the floor.  
"We'll take the guitars down when we're leaving. It's not good for them to sit in it for so long." He looked over the instrument. "You name it yet?"  
I shook my head.  
"Remember," he said slyly. "It has to be girl."  
I giggled. "I don't think that rule applies to me."  
He shrugged. "Whatever you're into."  
"Gross," I said, rolling my eyes.  
He flashed me another small smile before exiting. I heard him walk to the front door, open it, and exit, taking the bags with him.  
I lied back, my legs dangling off the side of the bed, staring at the ceiling. It was two days until showtime, and I was already getting stage fright. I closed my eyes, focusing on the knot in my stomach, and trying to get it to go away. They had already heard me before. Everyone who's going to that concert already loves Vocals, so why would they hate you?  
 _Because I don't sing about my latest hookup and fistfuls of ecstasy,_ I thought before quickly dismissing myself. These guys were my friends now, I shouldn't be complaining about their music. Even if I didn't agree with it.  
For a second, it felt weird defending them. In reality, I barely knew them. But they were my friends.  
And eventually, they'd feel like my family.  
"Rin," I heard someone whisper. I groaned, turning over.  
"Rin, get up." The voice was gentle, but firm.  
A hand found my shoulder. "We gotta hit the road, Rin."  
I opened my eyes. My room was suddenly very dark. "Wha-" I began, sitting up and rubbing my eyes.  
Len was standing over me. "It's time to go."  
"Wha-what time is it?" I asked mid-yawn.  
"Ten thirty." He took a step back. "I got everything packed. You can sleep in the car."  
I stretched my arms. "I must have passed out or something."  
He walked to the light switch, flipping it. I narrowed my eyes as they adjusted to the sudden light. My guitar, along with it's case, was gone. Packed into the back of Len's car, no doubt.  
I stood, still blinking the sleep out of my eyes. "Let's go." I grabbed my satchel off the floor, sliding my phone into it and throwing it over my shoulder.  
We walked out of my room, turning the lights back out as we did so. We did the same with every other room in the house until we walked to the front door in complete darkness.  
The hallway was colder than I ever remembered it being. I crossed my arms, trying to keep from shivering as we descended the stairs. The knot in my stomach was back as soon as it had disappeared.  
We got in the car as we had already done so many times before. Both Miku and Kaito's cars were gone.  
"When is everyone else leaving?" I asked as we pulled out of the garage.  
"Oh, they already left. We're the last two." He waved to the guard at the gate.  
"Then why is everyone's cars still at home?" I asked as we turned onto the road.  
"The girls are all riding up together, and Kaito and Gakupo are riding up together," he explained.  
"Oh, okay." I looked out the window. The city shone in it's normal brilliance. Instead of continuing down the hill like we always had, we turned onto a road that ran around the neighborhood, toward the mountains. "I haven't been up here in so long."  
"Yeah, me neither. They're like a home away from home." He leaned his seat back a bit. "I love them."  
It was too dark to see any significant features of the mountains. They stood as black silhouettes against the gray sky, which was still brightened by the glow of the city. "How long until we get there?"  
He sighed. "If traffic's decent, we should get to the hotel by midnight."  
"Damn. We taking any breaks? Or are we just gonna drive non stop for the next two hours?"  
"We might have to take a bathroom break," he joked. "But nothing that'll last more than ten minutes."  
I leaned my head against the window. "Alright."  
A few minutes of silence passed. The only noise was the gentle hum of the car gliding down the highway. My eyes began to close again.  
"Are you parents going to the concert?" Len asked, stirring me from my sleep.  
"Nah. They're too busy."  
"That sucks," he said.  
I shrugged. "It's no biggie. They said they're gonna watch it on T.V. And Ia's coming, so that should be fun."  
"Is she the one who came to the last concert with you?"  
"Yeah," I confirmed, sitting up. "She has no idea."  
A half-smile appeared. "That'll definitely be fun."  
I chuckled. "I hope she doesn't get mad at me or anything."  
He shook his head. "She'll be too busy trying to get over the fact that her best friend is famous."  
We continued chatting during the entire drive. Our conversations turned from normal topics to more odd ones.  
"I'm telling you," I insisted as we drove down the empty highway. We had been driving for almost two hours. "The mountains would be so much safer in a zombie apocalypse."  
"No, it'd be the plains. The best possible place would be in a little cabin on a tiny hill overlooking a ton of plains," he argued.  
"Why?"  
"Because then you could see something coming from far away."  
"But that means it can also see _you_ from far away," I pointed out.  
"But zombies can't see."  
I raised my eyebrows. "And you know this, how?"  
"Have you seen _any_ zombie movies?" He asked.  
"Only all of them."  
He rolled his eyes. "I doubt that."  
"You callin' me a liar?" I asked with a mocking tone.  
He chuckled. "I ain't callin' you a truther."  
"Don't make Drake and Josh references at me, asshole." I laughed. "Name a zombie movie. I've probably seen it."  
He obeyed. "28 Days Later."  
I nodded. "Yup."  
"The Cabin in the Woods."  
"That movie isn't a zombie movie," I pointed out.  
"There's zombies in it. It's a zombie movie."  
I shrugged. "Either way, seen it."  
"Night of the Living Dead," he continued.  
"Seen it."  
"Dawn of the Dead."  
"Seen it."  
"The Evil Dead?"  
"Yup."  
"I Am Legend."  
"Psh." I looked over at him. "Of course I've seen it."  
"What about any of the Resident Evil movies?"  
"More like all of the Resident Evil movies."  
He sighed, clearly losing his patience. "Warm Bodies?"  
I laughed. "That hardly counts, but yes."  
He shook his head. "Zombieland?"  
I narrowed my eyes. "Huh?"  
"Zombieland. With Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg?" He widened his eyes at my confused expression. "You've never-" he leaned forward, lowering his voice. "You've never seen Zombieland?"  
I shook my head. "Never heard of it."  
"How can you possibly have seen all these lower budget movies when you haven't even _heard_ of Zombieland? The greatest zombie movie of all time?" I had never seen him so passionate about something.  
I giggled. "I dunno."  
He shook his head in disbelief. "How can you even call yourself a zombie fan?"  
I looked back out the window, my grin still present. "Oh, whatever."  
"We're watching it when we get home," he declared. "First thing."  
"Whatever you say," I agreed, trying to see the world outside through the darkness. It was almost midnight, and we had driven far enough into the mountains for the sky and the mountains to be the same dark color; I could no longer tell the difference between them. "Are we almost there?"  
He nodded. "Yup." We passed a navigation sign. He pointed at it as we passed. "Red Rocks, five miles," he read. "That's us."  
I sighed in relief. "Thank God. You look like you're about to pass out."  
He chuckled. "I feel like I'm about to pass out."  
Our conversation had almost made the pit in my stomach disappear. Almost.  
Only a few short minutes later, he turned onto an off ramp. We followed the road around a corner, which revealed a small patch of city lights set in the bottom of a valley.  
"The stage is on the other side of the mountain," he informed me sleepily. "We gotta be there by seven p.m. tomorrow."  
"Thank God. We can sleep in," I answered, stretching my arms.  
The roads in the town were nearly empty. We passed a ton of small shops with extravagant looking clothes in the windows. I had always thought that small mountain shops were so cute, and the idea popped in my head to go shopping. Like Len hadn't spent enough money on me already.  
The road ran next to a river. It was calm and empty, and behind it stood billboards advertising rafting down it. They were lit up by small spotlights on the metal frame.  
The car turned onto a bridge leading over the river. We took a left into the parking lot of our hotel. I recognized Miku and Kaito's cars parked next to each other by the front door. We took the empty spot next to them. Len pulled the keys out of the ignition, leaving the lot in silence. Even Len's car seemed relieved that we had finally arrived.  
The moon was high in the sky, and my jacket was in my duffel bag, so I grabbed it and my guitar case out of the trunk with goosebumps on my arms. Len did the same, carrying his two bags in one hand and his guitar in the other.  
We walked through the automatic doors, catching the attention of a sleepy looking clerk behind the desk. He wore a green uniform, his brown eyes droopy and his short black hair messy on his head. The lobby was grand, but small, with a leather couch on the right and a dark coffee table in front of it. A small T.V. hung on the wall. It was turned off.  
"Rin and Len?" The clerk asked with a monotonous voice.  
I chuckled lightly. Half because I liked the way "Rin and Len" sounded, and half because he _obviously_ knew who we were.  
Len nodded, and the clerk reached under the desk and handed him a pair of key cards.  
"Thanks," Len said, turning toward the elevator. I followed, nodding my thanks to the boy behind the desk.  
We rode the elevator up silently. My legs were sore from sitting in the car for so long.  
The doors opened on the third floor, revealing a long hallway stretched in front of us. Doors lined the left wall. The right was bare except for a few paintings hung randomly along.  
Len looked down at the cards, and started down the hall. He stopped in front of room 317, and slid the keycard into the lock. A quiet beep sounded, and Len pushed the door open into our hotel room.  
It looked just like any normal hotel room, which kind of surprised me. I half expected a five star suite. The bathroom door was right next to the front door, and past it were two large beds with a nightstand between them. On the far end of the room was a small couch with a table in front of it. Across from the beds was a counter with a small T.V. atop it, and a few shelves below it with a mini-fridge and a microwave sitting on them.  
Len walked over to the bed closed to the window, throwing his hags down on it. "I hope you don't mind sleeping in the same room."  
I shook my head. "I don't care." I set my things on the floor between my bed and the wall. I fell into the bed, breathing in the clean smell of the soft comforter.  
I heard Len chuckle, before moving his things to the couch. "It's almost one," he stated.  
I groaned in response. "I'm so tired, but I'm never gonna be able to sleep."  
I heard him sit on his bed. "Why not?"  
I lifted my head, resting my chin on my arms so I could look at him. "I'm terrified."  
He was on his back, staring up at the ceiling with his hands behind his head. "It's just rehearsal."  
I sighed. "But the show." Just talking about it made me want to puke.  
He shrugged. "What's the biggest crowd you've performed in front of?"  
I let out a laugh. "You guys. When I was in the booth."  
Len gave me a surprised look. "Really?" When I nodded, he looked back up at the ceiling. "Oh, shit."  
"Yeah, 'Oh shit' is right," I murmured.  
He paused. "At least you won't be alone when you first go up," he pointed out.  
"Huh?"  
"I'll be up there," he promised. "They'll probably have us singing Unhappy Refrain and Butterfly together before you do yours. For the big reveal." He made dramatic hand gestures with the last sentence.  
I smiled lazily. "There's one good thing." I found it kind of pathetic that we were a duo now, and we only had two songs together. But hey, we didn't have much notice.  
He rolled over, laying on his side facing me. "We should really get to sleep now."  
I nodded, crawling to the top of my bed and pulling the neatly folded covers from under the pillows. "Yeah." I slid between the thick comforter and the fluffy mattress, sighing into the pillows.  
Len rolled over the other side of his bed and sat up, his back now facing me. I widened my eyes as he gripped the collar of his shirt. He pulled it over his head, revealing the toned muscles on his back. He tossed it on the ground casually. I couldn't help but stare as he lied down again, shutting my eyes tight the second he rolled over to face me. I hoped he couldn't see my blush in the darkness.  
I took a deep breath. It was only rehearsal tomorrow. Nothing big. I could worry about the actual concert later.  
I curled myself into a ball, trying to crush the uneasiness in me. I'll be okay, I kept telling myself. I'll be okay.  
Somehow, I drifted off to an uneasy sleep.

My eyes strained against the sunlight that poured into the window. I rolled over, pulling the comforter up to my cheek. I took a deep breath. Tomorrow. Tomorrow was my first concert.  
I rubbed my eyes, and sat up to stretch my arms. I looked over to see the lump in the other bed that was Len, with only his messy hair visible on his pillow. He seemed to be facing me, though I couldn't tell for sure. Behind him, the sun shone between the curtains. It's rays landed right on my pillow. Of course.  
The clock on the nightstand told me that it was 9:30. I didn't bother grabbing my hair accessories, and instead pushed the blanket off me gently. I dug through my bag, pulling out another shirt and a pair of shorts. With every noise I made, I looked back at Len, assuring myself that he was still asleep. He was quite the heavy sleeper.  
I was able to made it to the bathroom without Len even moving. If it weren't for the rhythmic rising and falling of his blanket, I would have thought he was dead.

The bathroom was just as neat and clean as the rest of the hotel room. At least, before Len and I screwed it up. It had creamy walls with white tile on the floor and marble countertops. A mirror took up the entire wall over the sinks. A basket sat between the sinks with small bottles of soaps. I sat my clothes down next to it and plucked the shampoo and conditioner out, setting them on a shelf in the shower. I began to undress, looking forward to showering after such a long drive here.  
I turned on the water, hoping the sound of the shower wouldn't wake Len, and stepped in. I turned the heat up to the highest temperature I could stand. The knot in my stomach not only remained, but seemed to grow even larger. I sighed.  
How was I going to do this? I didn't know the first thing about performing. When I was writing Chronophobia, I never would have guessed that my first performance would be in front of thousands of people. And, on top of that, it was going to be televised. Anyone could watch. Anyone.  
 _Oh Jesus_. I felt lightheaded. I turned the knob all the way to the left, going from the hottest water possible to the coldest water possible. The water droplets suddenly felt like shards of ice hitting me. Anything to clear my head. All I could think about was me freezing up on stage, or forgetting the lyrics to my own song, or even, God forbid, fainting in front of everyone. I could only imagine the magazine covers published after a stunt like that.  
After a while of standing there in the freezing water, I gave up on trying to make myself feel better, and just turned the water off. I wrapped myself in one of the fluffy hotel towels, amazed at how warm it felt on my skin.  
I didn't know what to with my dirty clothes, so when I was dressed, I kicked them into a pile under the counter. I'd get them later.  
The door squeaked when I pushed it open, and I cringed. It didn't matter, however. When I stepped back into the room, Len was leaning on a tower of pillows, his blanket pulled up to his stomach. He was typing something on his phone, and he was still, very distractingly, shirtless.  
"Morning," I squeaked before crawling across my own bed to grab my phone off the table.  
"Sleep good?" He asked.  
"Yeah. I slept alright." My stomach grumbled.  
He set his phone down on the bed, looking up at me. "Well we don't have to be at Red Rocks till seven," he informed me. "So whaddaya wanna do?"  
I shrugged, not looking at him. I didn't want him to know how terrified I was becoming. "I-I don't know."  
He sat up, pushing the comforter onto the floor. "I don't really feel like sitting in here all day."  
"Yeah."  
From the corner of my eye, I saw him pick his shirt up off the floor, putting it back on. He paused, staring at the closed curtains. "Wanna go drive around?"  
I narrowed my eyes. "Drive around? Drive around where?"  
Len stood, pulling the curtains open. "Just around town," he suggested. "We can't really go shopping. Can't risk people seeing us."  
 _Thank God_ , I thought to myself. _Nothing would make my anxiety better than having Len spend even_ more _money on me_.  
"Usually we go hiking when we come up here, but everyone's tired and we don't really have time," Len continued. "We don't have many options."  
"What's everyone else doing?" My voice shook. I hoped he didn't notice.  
He turned to me. I kept my eyes on my phone, still refusing to look at him. "They're staying here all day."  
"That's boring."  
He snickered. "Tell me about it."  
I rolled over onto my back, taking a deep breath. A drive could be relaxing. "Yeah, that sounds nice."  
"Sweet." Len grabbed his keys and jumped towards the door.  
"Now?" I asked, raising myself up on my elbows.  
He shrugged his shoulders. "Why not?"  
I smiled. "You're a very spontaneous person," I observed.  
He flashed his first half smile of the day. "Live life in the now. That's my motto."  
I rolled my eyes, jumping up from the bed. "You're a nerd."  
"A _spontaneous_ nerd," he corrected, holding the front door open for me.  
The hallway was empty. A concern popped into my head. "Are there other people staying here?"  
We stopped in front of the elevator. Len pushed the call button. "At the hotel? Yeah."  
I looked down the hallway again. "What if they see us?"  
The doors opened. "They're probably all out on the town already anyway," Len said, stepping inside.  
I sighed. "Aren't we supposed to make sure I'm... hidden?"  
Len pressed the button with a 1 marked on it. He chuckled. "You're way too careful about this."  
I crossed my arms. "I don't think you're careful enough." My anxiety was turning into anger.  
He narrowed his eyes at me. "What's your problem?" His tone was more annoyed than angry.  
I stared down at my shoes, my bratty outburst fading away. "I'm sorry," I said quietly. I could feel him staring at me.  
The door opened, and I quickly stomped out of the elevator, wanting to exit the awkward air as soon as possible. Len followed me.  
Miku and Kaito's cars were still parked next to Len's. I wondered if I should go hang out with them before rehearsal. I hadn't heard from any of them since yesterday, and if their cars hadn't been parked out here, it wouldn't even seem like they were here. I felt detached from them, which was odd. I had never really been attached to them in the first place.  
Len drove us out of the parking lot. I admired the mountains surrounding us. The forests on them were thick and a rich green color. I was disappointed we didn't have the time to go on a hike.  
"There's a lake at the edge of town," Len interrupted my thoughts. "It feeds into the river through this huge waterfall."  
"Cool," I answered, half listening.  
He took a deep breath. "You really don't have to be this scared," he insisted.  
"What?"  
"The concert is gonna go great." The knot tightened with every word he spoke. "It's gonna be awesome."  
I shook my head. "I'm terrified."  
"I can tell," he chuckled. I gave him a dirty look, and he went silent.  
The road we took followed the river. It slowly began to curve uphill, turning the gentle waters beside us into rapids. I could see rocks jutting out of the water everywhere in the river. I wondered if the rafters went through that part, because that would be terrifying.  
The slope became steeper and steeper, until the road began snaking it's way back and forth up the mountain. It was too steep for the road to go straight up anymore.  
"Ugh," I held my stomach. "I hate these windy roads."  
"We don't have to to up all the way," Len assured me.  
Sure enough, we were only about halfway up when Len pulled the car off the paved road and onto a dirt path.  
I narrowed my eyes. "What are you doing?" How could he take such an expensive looking sports car onto a dirt road?  
"Going to the waterfall," he stated indifferently. It obviously wasn't worrying him like it was worrying me.  
I grabbed the handle above the door as we continued down the road, trying to steady myself in the shaky car. Trees lines the either side of us, and only a couple minutes later, the highway had completely disappeared from view. In fact, every sign of civilization was gone.  
The road opened up into a small, circular clearing. Len parked the car along the edge, and turned it off. I could now hear the gentle roar of the waterfall.  
Len opened his door. He wore an expression that I had never seen on him before; one of wonder and curiosity. He looked excited. "Come on," he urged, closing the door and running across the bare dirt.  
I quickly followed him. "Slow down!" I yelled after him, laughing slightly. He ran out of the clearing, down a small dirt path.  
" _You_ hurry up!" He responded. The path turned to the left, and I lost sight of him again.  
I rounded the corner, and ran straight into his back. He stumbled forward, and I fell backward.  
"Ah, shit," I cursed myself as I landed roughly in the dirt.  
Len regained his balance, and turned to me. "Hah," he chuckled. "Maybe you shouldn't have hurried up." He held out a hand to me, and I took it. He pulled me up. Over his shoulder, I saw the waterfall. It was a good twenty feet high, and continued crashing down the hill when it hit the rocks below the drop off. The water itself looked white. Huge rocks were scattered all around it, pushing the treeline away from it.  
"Damn," I said. "That's fucking cool."  
He turned to look at it. "Yeah. It's kind of surprising how few people know about it."  
I walked around him onto the shore, and sat on a rock that was easily the size of both of our hotel beds combined. The sun shone right on it. I scooted up to the top, and lied back. The gentle heat of the sun felt amazing. Len mimicked me, resting his hands behind his head next to me. I looked up at the sky and closed my eyes. My mind was cleared of everything except for the roar of the water, the chirping of birds in the trees around us, the wind blowing through the leaves of the aspens, and Len's steady breathing next to me. For the first time in the last 48 hours, I felt at peace.  
Len sighed next to me. "Pretty _relaxing_ , huh?" He put emphasis on the word relaxing.  
I smiled, keeping my eyes closed. "I see what you're doing."  
He chuckled. "Is it working?"  
It was. I felt the relief of the butterflies in my stomach finally settling down. "Yeah," I answered softly. I didn't want to speak so loud. I was scared of disrupting the peacefulness of the environment around me.  
"Good," he replied.  
That was the extent of our conversation. We both sat in peace, feeling the warmth of the sun and the occasional breeze slip past us. Clouds sometimes floated under the sun, blocking it's warmth. I eagerly awaited its return every time. The waterfall never slowed, though it did seem to grow quieter and quieter as I unknowingly drifted into unconsciousness.  
The next time I opened my eyes, I saw Len snoring peacefully next to me. I grinned sleepily at the small pool of drool forming on the rock next to him. I stretched my arms, wincing as I scraped them against the rough surface.  
 _Oh shit_ , I though, sitting upright violently. I swore I only closed my eyes for a second, but the clearing was dark. I could barely see the waterfall in the dusk. The sky was dark blue, and there was no sign of the sun in it.  
A wave of fear ran over me. "Len," I squeaked, my eyes darting around us. "Len!" I nudged him hard on his arm.  
He rolled onto his back, rubbing his eyes. "Huh?" He grunted, his voice low and husky from his deep sleep.  
"Len, wake up! It's dark..." My heart started pounding. Would we be able to find the path back to the car?  
He opened his eyes. "Aw, fuck," he cursed as he sat up. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, checking the time. He relaxed. "It's only 6:30. We have time."  
I shivered, and pulled my bare knees up to my chest. I was still in my shorts. "Can we go back to the car?" I asked timidly.  
He gave me an amused look. "If we want to make it to rehearsal in time, we better."  
He turned on the flashlight on his phone, and shined it on the path in front of us. We slid off the rock, and I followed close behind him as we made our way back up the path. My worry decreased greatly when we entered the clearing, and saw the car.  
I even smiled as I opened my car door. "You were drooling," I informed him. "And snoring."  
He shrugged, putting they keys in the ignition. "I was passed out."  
I nodded. "Me too."  
We drove back to the hotel quickly, and ran up the stairs to our room. Len pulled the keycard out of his pocket, unlocked the door, and burst inside. I stood outside of the bathroom door as he bounded across the room, grabbing my outfit out of his bag and throwing it across the room at me.  
"You change in the bathroom, I'll change out here," he declared, pulling his outfit out and laying it on his bed.  
"Got it." I quickly closed the door, sliding off my shirt and shorts and replacing them with my other shirt and shorts. I glanced at myself in the mirror, still slightly uncomfortable about my belly shirt.  
A knock sounded on the door. "You good?" Len's voice sounded from the other side.  
I opened the door. "Yeah," I muttered. Len was fully dressed already, his hair styled and everything. "Oh, that reminds me," I said aloud, pushing past him. My bow and clips sat just where I left them on the nightstand. I snatched them up, and went back into the bathroom. Len stood at the far end, fixing his tie. I fluffed my hair, sliding my headband into my hair and brushing my bangs to the side. When my hair clips were in place, I took a step back, admiring myself in the mirror.  
Len laughed. "We looks ridiculous."  
I frowned. "I like it." We stood next to each other in the mirror, and we definitely looked like... Business partners.  
He crossed his arms, looking over our reflections.  
I cocked my head to the side, intertwining my fingers behind my back. "We look cute," I joked.  
Len chuckled, tearing his gaze from the mirror and exiting. "I guess," he admitted as he walked past me. Grinning, I followed him.  
He was leaning over one of his duffle bags and his guitar case. "Can you take Emma?" He asked, closing the case and snapping the latches shut. The duffle bag was overflowing with cords and other technical stuff.  
"Of course." I grabbed the handle, holding it with both bands in front of me.  
Len pulled the zipper closed, though he had to stop several times to push the cords deeper into the bag. When he finally shut it all the way, he picked up the bulging bag and lugged it towards the door. "The case has my keycard and my phone in it," he informed me.  
"I have a keycard in my satchel." I tapped my bag. It hung off my shoulder loosely.  
He nodded, setting the duffel down in front of the door. "Sweet. Then we're all ready."  
I opened the door for him, and once again we found ourselves in the elevator, in the lobby, and out the door. I set Len's guitar case into the bottom of his trunk, after which he lifted in the duffle bag. He let out a loud grunt as he dropped it.  
I giggled.  
"It's heavy," he defended.  
And then we were on the road again.


	10. Chapter 10

The stage was outdoors this time. The seats were colosseum-styled; and the stage itself was built into the side of a mountain. The cutout was shaped in a perfect half circle, as if someone had taken a giant melon baller and scooped the rock straight out of the once-flat wall. The different color layers of rock stacked on top of each other all the way to the top of the mountain. The floor of the stage was shaped like a semicircle, with the curved end toward the back and the straight edge right in front of the audience. The back of the stage was higher than the front, and a set of stairs connected the two walkways.. On either side of the staircase were platforms for the band members to play.  
I wandered the stage, craning my head to admire the imperfections in the multi-colored rock above me. The blinding stage lights were built into the ceiling. Lights that would be presenting me. Tonight. And tomorrow.  
I gulped. "Okay, now I'm getting scared."  
People swarmed all over the stage, pulling chords and instruments with them. They were all dressed in black except for the occasional Vocal who passed through. Len was the only one who was constantly there, kneeling a few feet above me on one of the platforms. I had been following him around like a lost puppy since we arrived. "You'll be fine," he assured me impatiently. He was fiddling with a guitar amp.  
I looked out into the seats. The rows seemed endless. "How many people can even fit in here?"  
Len took an exasperated sigh, leaning away from the amp. "I don't know, Rin."  
I turned away from him. The amp was pissing him off enough, he didn't need me adding to the problem. From the corner of my eye, a flash of blue appeared. It was Miku. She held a closed box.  
"About ten thousand," she answered as she neared me. Her voice echoed slightly under the rock.  
My heart dropped. 9,992 more people than I was used to singing in front of. "Oh god," I whispered before I could stop myself.  
Miku rolled her eyes, though the bounce in her steps and the light in her expression assured me she was not nearly as annoyed as Len. "You'll do great."  
 _You'll be fine. You'll do great. They'll love you. That what they all say, Miku._  
She passed me, walking up the stairs in the center. When she reached the top, she turned to the left, exiting the stage through a doorway invisible to the audience.  
While the higher elevated portion of the stage had an exit on either side, the lower section where I now stood only had one. It stood on the audience's right, hidden behind a thin wall of rock.  
I paced across the stage as the minutes ticked past. Eventually, the sun had completely set, and the stage lights were turned on. They were brighter than anything I had ever seen, and every time I looked into them I was blinded for a good five minutes.  
I sat on the edge of the stage with my legs dangling over the edge. I couldn't wrap my head around the ten thousand plus people who would be judging me instantaneously tomorrow night. I sat in a haze for hours without even knowing it.  
People swarmed all over the stage until everything was neat and tidy. Then I looked away for only a second, and it seemed that everyone in black disappeared. I looked around in confusion- for a moment I was the only one on stage- when the Vocals all came through the right entrance at the top of the stairs.  
It felt like a stab to my stomach when I saw them walking together in their cloud, so much like the night I met them. Their laughs had turned into cackles and their smiles had turned into wolfish grins. I watched them, my breath picking up, and I realized that they probably didn't even noticed their transformation. They were werewolves, and tonight was the full moon. As they made their way down the stairs, they turned into completely different people. People that I had (thankfully) forgot existed.  
But they were back, and before I knew it, their cloud was upon me. I stood from y seat on the stage, just to make sure I wouldn't drown under it.  
 _They better not expect me to act like that,_ I thought as they stopped next to me.  
Luka put an arm on my shoulder. "You ready for the night of your life?" Her fucking _grin_. I hadn't seen it in ages.  
I stood limply under her arm as they all turned to look at me. Len's eyes especially bothered me- they looked like they had when he sat next to me at the café seemingly so long ago. Cloudy, flirty. Like he was drunk or something.  
Where had my friends gone?  
I nodded, not wanting to speak. Thankfully, our manager appeared at the top of the stage, clapping his hands together.  
"Alright, guys!" Erik yelled, his echo much louder than I had heard so far tonight. "We're gonna do a WOF Show."  
 _Wof? Like... Like a waffle?_  
"Oh fuck yeah," I hear Miku whisper under her breath. The rest of them seemed excited by the news as well.  
Erik grinned at the confused look that overcame me. "It stands for Wheel of Fortune. Like the show?" He turned his back to us, motioning for us to follow. "Guys, explain it to her."  
Len nudged me. "So they project a wheel onto the rock behind us," he began as we followed Erik up the stairs. "And the wheel has every song we're performing during the show. It picks a random one, and whoever wrote it sings it, and then they pick another one, and it keeps going until we're all out of songs."  
Miku cut in. "See that ledge over there?" She pointed to an indent in the rock on the lowest level of the stage. It looked like a single row of a bleacher you would see in a high school gym. I would guess it was about nine feet off the ground. "There's little indents in the wall, and we all climb up there and hang out on stage the whole concert."  
I narrowed my eyes. _I don't see any indents._  
Miku shrugged, reading my mind. "They're hard to see from here. But it's not hard to climb up it. Just do NOT jump off of it when you're getting down. It hurts." She flashed the other Vocals an amused look. "A lot."  
I felt that there was some joke I was missing, but I was too busy absorbing all this new information to care.  
Erik led us backstage. The halls were tunnels snaking through the mountain. "Everyone is gonna do a song to... Introduce themselves, if you will." He gave me a grin over his shoulder. "You and Len are gonna be the last two on. And you're gonna do your intro song together"  
I nodded, still in my haze.  
The halls all looked the same to me. We were led to a room with a huge sitting area, and a metal square in the floor across from it. Above it was an empty space that resembled an elevator shaft. Erik stopped in front of the panel, turning to us again. "Everyone is entering the stage through the side entrances except you two." He pointed to me and Len. "You guys are taking the elevator."  
Len smirked. "Like badasses."  
Erik and I ignored the comment. "Anyway," he began, cutting through the chorus of cheers that came from the others. "Miku's going right before you two. She's gonna open with Rolling Girl, introduce you guys a little bit, and then go sit on the ledge with the others."  
I nodded as he spoke, absorbing the plans like a sponge. _We'll be the last two up. Got it. I think._  
"Tomorrow, you guys should be _in this room_ by the time Miku gets on stage. And then she'll sing, you guys will come up, you'll sing, and then we'll start the Wheel," he continued. Did it have to be this complicated?  
I fiddled with my hands. They were sweaty.  
Erik paused for a moment. "You got it?" He asked, looking somewhat concerned.  
"Wh-what?" My throat felt dry. I hadn't spoken in hours. "Yeah. Yeah I think I got it."  
He smiled. "Alright. Then we're going to start rehearsal." He turned to Gumi. "You're opening the concert."  
She jumped up. "Yes, oh fuck yeah." Her grin stretched from ear to ear.  
Gumi disappeared into the tunnels, and the rest of us settled onto the couches in the sitting area. A T.V. hung on the wall with a large speaker on either side of it. The screen showed the stage, with a group of people who I didn't recognize finding their places behind the instruments.  
"We have a band?" I asked, not thinking before I said it. My use of the word "we" sent a shiver down my spine. I was part of the pack now.  
Len shrugged next to me. "They're different every time. Some people stick around, some get kicked off the team, some are only here at certain stages-" he looked up at the screen. "It all depends."  
I nodded, resting my shaking hands in my lap. I was kind of annoyed how he spoke of these people like objects, but my nervous self couldn't worry about it. It felt strange looking around me, seeing all the Vocals in their signature outfits, and wearing one myself. I looked like I belonged, but I didn't feel like it.  
Through the speakers, a voice called "One two three four!" And the band started playing simultaneously, startling me. The Vocals around me chatted and laughed, clearly not paying attention, but I watched with wide eyes as Gumi danced onto stage, her usual perkiness adding to the skip in her step and the grin on her face. She wore a small earpiece, with her mic sticking out of it at the side of her face.

" _Ikimono-kakari no ki ni naru-"_

She burst into the opening of My Crush Was A Monster Boy, dancing with the music and pointing into the crowd as if there were much more than empty seats in front of her. The spotlight shone down on her as she slowly made her way down the stairs, waving and smiling at the band members. They nodded back to her, returning her enthusiasm.  
Despite myself, I grinned. She sounded great, they sounded great, and all of them sounded great together.  
She reached the bottom of the stairs, and began running back and forth across the stage with the music. I was surprised by her energy. Gumi had always been known to crazy (in a good way), both onstage and off. I admired her for it. I guess it was her job to get the crowd excited, since she was opening the show and all, but I had a feeling she'd be doing the same thing even if she were going third or fourth.  
Halfway through the song, Kaito looked up at the screen, and leaped off the couch. "Showtime," he grinned, before jogging out of the room.  
Before I knew it, the music ended, and Gumi cheered along with the band members. She ran over to the ledge, and climbed up the wall using the footholds that were invisible to me from such a distance. She looked like a spider climbing up the side of the wall. There didn't seem to be enough room on the ledge for her to walk on it, so she reached the top, sat on it, and scooted to one end.  
The stage was quiet for a moment, before the band once again started up, and Kaito danced out of another side entrance. He wore an earpiece, just like Gumi's, and burst into song. When he was finished, he copied Gumi, running over to the ledge, and climbing up. The two of them high-fived as Luka appeared next.  
One by one, the Vocals disappeared out of the sitting room only to reappear on stage. Finally, the only three remaining were Miku, Len and I.  
"How do they get down?" I asked, watching the Vocals on the ledge.  
"There's footholds all over that wall," Miku explained, sitting on the couch across from Len and I. "We've been up there so many times, we know where they all are. But we'll let you sit next to the easier ones."  
Her reassuring didn't help much. "What about our mics?" I asked Len.  
"Oh, shit." Len stood up. "They're hanging right next to the side entrances. I'll go grab ours." He exited the room, leaving me with Miku.  
She looked over me for a moment. "Nervous?" I was surprised at the change of tone in her voice. She was Miku: My Friend again.  
I nodded, staring down at my hands. "I know it's only practice, but I'm still scared."  
She brushed a strand of hair out of her face. "I remember my first time on stage," she told me. "I was... ten, I think. I was singing the National Anthem at the SuperBowl."  
My mouth dropped open. "Oh my god. No way."  
She giggled. "I fucked it up, too."  
"No way," I repeated.  
She sat up, a small blush on her face. "Whose broad stripes and bright stars," she began. "O'er the ramparts we watched. I forgot the 'Through the perilous fight."  
I stared at her with my mouth still open. "How can I not remember this?"  
She shrugged. "I was ten. I didn't know the words. People thought it was cute, and kind of brushed it off." She looked down at the floor. "I didn't even know I sang it wrong until I made it big, and Erik told me. It's probably the most embarrassing thing I've ever done."  
I stared and stared, the knot in my stomach loosening.  
She looked back up at me, her bright smile reappearing. "But now I'm famous, nobody cares about it anymore, and everyone loves me."  
Her words sounded narcissistic, but I knew she didn't mean it like that. "Wow," was all I could say.  
She laughed. "So if you think you're going to fuck up, just know that it can't be that bad."  
Len reentered, holding two tiny earpieces. "Can't be how bad?"  
Miku brushed him off. "Don't worry about it, lover boy." Her Miku: My Friend tone was gone and replaced by her Miku: Superstar tone.  
He smirked, sitting down next to me again and handing me a mic. I grabbed it, turning it over in my hand. The mic couldn't have been thicker than my pointer finger, and the earpiece itself looked like an earbud a little clip on it.  
Len brushed his hair behind his ear. "You put it on like this." He opened the clip, attaching it to the tip of his ear. "It doesn't hurt, and it won't fall off. Just DON'T press the button right here-" he pointed to a tiny red button where the mic connected to the earpiece. "-It turns it on. You'll press it when we're on the elevator."  
"Psh," Miku interrupted as I fit the contraption onto my ear. Len was right- it didn't hurt, but I could definitely feel the pressure of the clip on my ear. "Didn't grab me one?" She asked jokingly.  
Len grinned. "You have legs. Use them."  
"Rin has legs too and you got her one," she pointed out.  
Len shrugged. "You're going that way."  
Miku chuckled. "I think you're playing favorites." She looked up at the screen and jumped up. "That's my cue," she called as she straightened out her skirt. "Good luck."  
She left, and Len and I sighed. The thumping in my chest increased as I heard Rolling Girl's piano intro. We were next.  
"This is only a taste of how I'm gonna feel tomorrow," I thought aloud, wincing at the writhing of my stomach inside of me. I felt the sudden urge to throw up.  
I probably would have if not for Len's carefree attitude. "Everyone here has already heard you sing," he pointed out.  
I tried to take deep breaths. "Yeah, I know. But actually being on a stage..." I trailed off.  
Len leaned back, watching the screen. Miku entered the stage through the entrance at the front of the stage, earning a cheer from the ledged Vocals. She winked dramatically at them, before her high-pitched singing filled the stage.  
Deep breaths. In. Out. In. Out.  
Len stood up, walking to the elevator. "Wanna come see it?"  
"See what?" My voice cracked.  
Len either didn't notice or pretended not to. "The elevator is gonna come down in a sec."  
I stood up, pulling my shirt down to try and cover my stomach. It didn't work.  
I walked up next to him. He held out an arm, stopping me from walking past him. "Go any further and it'll crush you."  
I stopped dead in my tracks. "What?"  
As promised, the metal floor above us began to descend through the elevator. I gulped. _At least I'm not singing the National Anthem in front of the entire population of America_.  
Behind us, Miku's voice still sounded through the speakers.  
"Don't step on the elevator 'till she's done," he informed me.  
I nodded, and his arm fell back to his side. He took a deep breath, his shoulders rising and falling steadily. "You ready?"  
I shook my head. "No, but I don't really have a choice."  
He glanced over at me. "Hey, at least you have me," he said in his cocky tone.  
I smiled slightly, though I was still uncomfortable with this side of him. "Yeah."  
"We're a team, right?" He asked, his tone suddenly softer.  
My heart skipped at the word "team." "Yeah," I repeated, not having the courage to look at him. "I guess so."  
Miku launched into the second verse. I took a deep breath. "What was your first time on stage like?" I asked. Miku's story had made me feel a little better. Maybe Len's would too.  
He chuckled. "My eighth grade talent show." He ran a hand through his hair, and gave me a grin. "I won."  
I looked down at the floor. "What'd you do?"  
"I sang the first song I ever wrote."  
"What song is that?"  
His confidence faltered for a moment. "It's this song called Error."  
I cocked my head to the side. I felt my bow pulling at my hair. "I've actually never heard that song."  
He put his hands into his pockets, not meeting my eyes. "That's because I haven't sang it since."  
"Why not?"  
He thought for a second, then shrugged. "I dunno. I'm not a big fan of it."  
"I wanna hear it," I said, regretting it immediately after. I felt a slight blush rise to my cheeks.  
He half smiled. "We'll see."  
Through the speakers, Miku's music faded out. My feeling of dread returned. Len stepped onto the metal panel, and I followed him. Miku continued to talk on stage, pretending to introduce me to the crowd.  
"I know how excited you've all been..." She began.  
"Is she going to do that tomorrow too?" I asked Len quietly.

"Trust me, we're all excited too." A cheer from the ledge. "Her style is _bit_ different, but in the best way…"  
He nodded, holding a finger to his lips to shush me. He reached up to his headset, pressing the red button. With a shaking arm, I did the same.  
"... but enough talk for now." Miku laughed. "Here they are!"  
I took another deep breath. _There wasn't even anyone in the crowd. Only the Vocals. I'd do okay._  
The guitarists on stage began playing the intro to Unhappy Refrain, and my stomach lurched. For a terrifying second, I thought I was going to throw up. The elevator began to ascend as well, only adding to my worry. Luckily, I kept my lunch down.  
The drums came in, and I nodded my head to beat.  
 _3...  
_ _2...  
_ _1..._

" _Ahhhhhhhhhh…"_

Len and I began our introductory scream just as we became visible to the nonexistent audience. I looked over the empty seats, feeling a sudden courage.  
I stepped off the elevator with Len beside me, and we began down the stairs together. I launched into my verse, dancing slightly to the drums beside me. From the corner of my eye, I could see the ledge, packed with grinning Vocals.

" _Sandanjuu to telecast kotoba no seiretsu, unhappy-"_

Len standing beside me gave me confidence that I didn't know I had. We were a duo. Business partners. A team.

" _Sakasama no garu otona no sekai-"_

Before I knew it, my verse was over. I looked over at Len, who smiled proudly at me. I took a deep breath, my grin stretching from ear to ear.  
He turned away from me after our small moment, looking at the empty seats in front of us. He rose his hands into the air, launching into his performance personality. One that I already knew too well.

" _Sandanju to tere kyasuta kotoba mo nai yona anrakki"_

On the ledge, the others nodded to the music, smiling and laughing together. I felt somewhat awkward standing on stage while Len sang. What was I supposed to do? Just stand there? Dance?

I settled on standing next to him, bouncing slightly to the beat and smiling. This didn't really feel like rehearsal anymore. It felt like a party. I could feel the beat of the drums and the sound of the guitar in stage below me; there may not have been any people there, but the speakers were definitely loud enough to reach every seat. At least, it seemed that way from where I was standing.  
As quickly as his verse began, it ended, launching the both of us into our duet at the end. I grinned as Len began stomping his foot to the beat, a smirk on his face. I began to get more into the dancing too. For the last few lines of the song, I jumped around to the beat, the entire stage shaking with energy. The Vocals laughed at us as we found each other on the last line. We struck an ending pose together, our backs to each other and my right arm, along with his left, extended toward the crowd.

" _Sore wa...?"_

We ended in perfect sync, and as soon as the music cut off, Miku turned her mic on.  
"Fuck yeah!" She screamed, earning a laugh from everyone, including the band members.  
Gumi lifted a finger to her earpiece. "I told you," she began, her voice coming through the speakers around me. "They're perfect. Their outfits even match."  
I felt a slight blush rise to my cheeks, but Len just rolled his eyes, and motioned for me to follow him as he made his way to the ledge. The closer I got, the more visible the footholds were. Len climbed up effortlessly. He sat down, patting the seat between him and Luka. I gave the wall one uneasy look, then grabbed the jutting rocks and climbed up. Len had made it look much easier than it really was, but I was able to scramble up without too much trouble.  
When I was stable on the ledge, I looked down at the stage. I felt much higher up than I really was. My head spun as I suffered from a quick dose of vertigo, but I was thankfully able to regain myself.  
Around the empty seats, several giant screens suddenly lit up, revealing a colorful wheel. The same wheel was projected onto the back of the stage. It was divided into more small wedges than I could count, each a different color. Each wedge had writing on them, but I could hardly tell what they said. The letters were so small.  
The fake wheel began to spin, as if pushed by some invisible hand. It gradually slowed until it stopped with an arrow pointed to a light blue wedge. The screen zoomed in on the wedge, revealing the words "Two Faced Lovers - Miku." Each screen was completely in sync.  
She squealed in delight, quickly climbing down the wall.  
 _Whoa_ , I thought. _That's a cool way to run concerts._ It made much more sense to see it in action, rather than have people explain it to me.  
The entire night after that was a blur of flashing lights and loud music. We would wait for the wheel to pick the next chosen one, who would jump off the ledge, sing their song, climb back up, and repeat. Each time a song was chosen, it was removed from the selection during the next choosing. As more and more songs were checked off the wheel, the wedges became bigger and bigger until only a few songs remained. At some point, I don't particularly remember when, Chronophobia was chosen. I climbed down the wall just like the others did. I sang my heart out. I came back. They chose someone else. I briefly wondered if this was completely random, or if someone behind the stage was just picking them as we went. It wouldn't really matter either way, I concluded. I had no idea what song was coming next, and neither did the rest of the Vocals. The crowd wouldn't know, either. And that was the whole point; the excitement of not-knowing.  
Finally the wheel was divided into only two halves. One was yellow, and the other was a light green. It spun, eventually landing on the yellow.  
Len uttered a quiet "Yes," next to me. Through the process of elimination, he could probably tell what was coming.  
 _Spice! - Len_ the screen read.  
I rolled my eyes as he climbed down, the girls playfully cat-calling him as he made his way to the center of the stage. I smiled, not participating in the whistling.  
One incredibly embarrassing song later, Len took his seat next to me once again. Luka laughed at him.  
"You enjoy that song way too much," she yelled, leaning over to see him on my other side.  
He shrugged. He was wearing a grin. "I can't help it."  
I laughed at both of them as the wheel popped up one final time. The entire thing was the same shade of light green as before. It didn't even spin. It only zoomed into the middle of the circle. "Wanting to Hold You - Gumi & Rin."  
I was taken aback. We only recorded the song a day or two ago, and it was already up.  
Gumi shouted at me from across the ledge. "Come on!"  
My confused look was replaced with an energized smile. I got to perform with the most spirited of all.  
Her feet made a loud thump as she hit the ground and took of sprinting down the stage. I laughed, following her as quickly as I could. But damn, she was fast.  
She jumped up like a ballet dancer as the music kicked in. She clicked the red button on her ear, reminding me to do the same. When the introductory instrumentals faded out, Gumi stopped dead in her tracks, turning to the empty seats.

" _Jinsei ichido ha motetari suru toka-"_

I had already gotten the hang of stage-dancing during duets from watching the others perform throughout the night. With Gumi, it was especially easy. I could dance as crazy as I wanted to without looking out of place next to her.

" _Yokuasa kiseki ha bokura ni otozure"_

Without a moment's hesitation, I jumped in at the beginning of my verse. Now, it was her turn to be the background dancer. I slowly stepped up to the edge of the stage as she flowed back behind me.  
At the end of my verse, I turned around, slightly surprised to find her at the top of the stairs. She extended her arms into the air front of her, her voice filling the stage as she jumped into the chorus with me.  
Near the end of the song, all the instruments cut off, leaving only the gentle sound of a piano. At this part, Gumi slowly made her way down the stairs. The way she walked, I could imagine her with a long, flowing dress behind her. A Cinderella-esque dress. I giggled, realizing what she was doing. From the bottom of the steps, I held a hand up to her. Princess Gumi, and Prince Rin.  
She mockingly took my hand, and we erupted into a ballroom dance to the piano. We laughed as our feet padded away expertly on the ground, not stepping on each other once. Role playing on stage. I had seen them do it before; many of their old songs were more story based. Sometimes, it was more like watching a play than a concert.  
We found our way to the middle of the stage just as the piano hit the final, high note. The instant the rest of the band kicked in, we separated, making our way to opposite ends of the stage.

" _Motetai, motetai_

 _Demo kimi no motenai…"_

We ended the song with the same explosive energy as we began it with. The final few beats of the drums rang in my ears as I struck my ending pose, my shoulders heaving. The ringing had only begun to cease when the Vocals began cheering for us. I was surprised to hear a source of clapping coming from the audience instead of the ledge to my left. I scanned the seats, quickly finding Erik lounging in the front row.  
Gumi laughed, moving out of her ending pose. "Careful, Len," she warned. "I might steal her from ya."

What felt like hours later, Len and I trudged into the hotel elevator. Miku offered to take us all out for a pre-concert dinner, and even though I was exhausted from the concert, we went. Texas Road House wasn't the fanciest of restaurants, but the steak had been delicious. And we were the only customers in the entire building, so that was a plus.  
We were the first two of the Vocals to arrive at the hotel. The clerk wasn't at the desk when we walked in. The only noise either of us made were our heavy steps and Len's keys clinking together in his pocket. The elevator doors opened, and Len slid the keycard through our door and entered our room. The sweet smell of air-freshener filled my nose.  
"I have never been so glad to sleep in a bed that's not mine," Len muttered as he plopped down into his bed. He was Len: My Friend now. No more cocky, I'm-Better-Than-You remarks or sneaky half smiles.  
I chuckled, crawling under my blankets. "We probably shouldn't sleep in these outfits," I pointed out.  
He sighed. "But I'm too lazy."  
"You do you," I said before rolling out of bed only seconds after getting in it. "I can't sleep with these detached sleeves and leg warmers anyway." I grabbed my other pair of pajamas out of my nearly-empty bag, and made my way to the bathroom.  
When I returned to the main room with my neatly-folded outfit in my arms, Len had still not moved. I rolled my eyes, figuring that he already fell asleep. I threw my outfit on top of my bag. It couldn't hurt him to sleep in that clothes for just one night. Plus, I didn't want to wake him up.  
It felt amazing to snuggle into the pile of fluff that was my bed. I felt dirty, and had the powerful urge to take a shower, but I resisted it. Sleeping was higher on my list of priorities.  
I was still hazy from rehearsal. Too hazy to be nervous for tomorrow. Or, maybe it wasn't the haze. Maybe I was still getting over the fact that I got on that stage at all, even if there weren't any people watching me. It was too early after being nervous to be nervous again.  
"I didn't win." Len's voice cut through the silence and my thoughts.  
I rolled over to face him. "What?"  
"You asked me about my first performance at the concert, and I told you it was a talent show that I won. Well, I lied."  
I furrowed my brow. "Why?"  
The room was too dark to see him, but I could hear his sheets rustling. "I don't know. I wanted to seem... confident, I guess."  
Did I just hear him right? I never would have thought he was to try to be confident. I figured it came naturally. "You don't have to lie to me to seem cool," I pointed out, slightly amused. Maybe it was part of his stage personality.  
"I know," he sighed. "I don't know why I did it."  
 _I have an idea_ , I thought to myself. "Why are you telling me now?"  
"I couldn't stop thinking about it," he admitted. "I like to think I'm a pretty honest person. I know you were only asking me that because you were nervous, and it was unfair to you for me to lie like that."  
I had never witnessed this side of Len before. It was surprisingly sweet of him. "It's fine."  
Silence filled the room once again. I took a deep breath. This conversation felt... unfinished.  
"So... what really happened?" I asked.  
I heard him laugh softly. "I froze on stage. Didn't say a word when the music started. I just... I just stood there."  
The vision popped into my head of Len, his hair a bit shorter and a few years younger, standing in front of a crowd of his peers. His nervous, teenaged self shaking in front of all his friends with a microphone in his hands.  
"Aw," was all I could say. The same noise you make when you see a cute animal.  
He laughed again. "It's kind of funny to think of now, but I still remember it every time I get on stage."  
"I forgot. What song did you perform?"  
"Error," he clarified.  
I smiled, though I knew he couldn't see it. "You should sing it for me."  
"Hah. Maybe another night."  
Silence once again. I waited patiently for him to say something else, but he didn't. I rolled over again, staring at the blank wall. "Thanks for telling me the truth."

He sighed. "Uh huh."

"Night, Len."  
More shuffling behind me. "Night, Rin."

 _It took me a while to get this chapter to sound right, and I'm still not sure how good I did. It took me forever to write this because of my short stories, and this part of the story is a bit slower, but it picks up during the concert. Next chapter is show time!_

 _A little disclaimer: I have no idea what the exact English translation of Gumi and Rin's "Wanting to Hold You" is. I've heard the title being something closer to "I Want to Be Like You" or "I Want You to Like Me," but I have no idea. The romanji is "Kimi no Motetai" so if any of you are better at Japanese than I am (which is probably most of you), maybe you can figure it out._

 _Also, there's a ton of songs referenced in this chapter, so I'm just going to write the ones that I haven't sourced yet, and I'm NOT going to source in the next chapter, if that makes any sense. Pretty much, if you don't see it here, you'll see it in the next chapter._

 _Gumi - My Crush Was a Monster Boy -_ _watch?v=ePlhVtDLSbg_

 _Miku - Two Faced Lovers -_ _watch?v=AvTH7J2shuI_

 _(This one has some… content. Honestly, probably one of my least favorite songs with Len xD)_

 _Len - Spice! -_ _watch?v=M8qZ1y-BlGo_

 _Thanks for reading! :)_


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